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The Benefits of Clear Boundaries

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”
2 Corinthians 6:16–18

Unlike a football field or basketball court where the boundaries are permanently painted, the line markers on the baseball field are made with chalk. This means that over the course of a game the lines—especially around home plate where there is a lot of coming and going—start to get blurred. Often the umpire will take a moment to wipe the dust off the plate so he can clearly see where the boundaries of the strike zone should be. And if the foot traffic is heavy enough, he may even call for the batter's box to be re-chalked so that the places where it is legal for the batter to stand are clearly visible.
The lines in life serve a purpose. This is just as true in important matters as it is in sports. God has given us clear guidelines, both in specific commandments and in specific principles (which apply where there is no commandment.) God has made His way plain to us in His Word. We do sometimes come to difficult choices and decisions that require us to carefully study the Bible to determine which principles apply. But in most cases, the blurring of the lines comes not from a lack of understanding what is right, but from not really wanting to do what we know to be right, and looking for alternatives.

 

Today’s Growth Principle: 

A close relationship with God requires that we draw clear lines of distinction between ourselves and the world.

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When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you…” --John17:1 Do you know the priorities and passions of Jesus? Well, I’m sure many ideas come to mind, but Jesus actually revealed four priorities that were of upmost importance to him. And even more importantly, he has entrusted these priorities to you, me, and all Christ-followers. We find Jesus’ passions and priorities in the extraordinary prayer recorded in John 17. This prayer helps explains why this passage is often called the most important chapter in all of Scripture. You may recall that Jesus prayed this prayer in Gethsemane just before he was arrested and went to the cross. You see, imminent death has a way of pulling all that’s important into sharp focus. And it was no different for Jesus. In the first verse of this prayer… this divine summit between God the Father and God the Son… Jesus reveals his first priority. He prayed, “Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.”  And as his Church… his body on earth, our foremost priority is to bring glory to God and to Christ Jesus! So let me ask you. Do your words and actions bring glory and honor to your Father in heaven and Christ Jesus? If you belong to Jesus, then live to make the priority of Jesus’ your own. DOES YOUR LIFE GLORIFY GOD?