Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Limits of Freedom

I was getting ready in the bathroom this morning and my cats were wandering freely out in the yard. Suddenly, I heard a car door shut in the yard, and I knew that someone had come in from the very busy street in front of our building to park in the yard. I started thinking, "This is my worst nightmare with regard to my cats...someone opens the doors to the extremely busy street out front, and my curious Toby will make a dash for it, and either get hit, lost, or stolen and he has no ID collar!" So I grabbed my keys and dashed down the stairs calling out for both Toby and Simon. After about 30 seconds, Toby came bounding out from underneath the bushes in the back yard as though nothing was wrong. Simon followed, both with tails straight in the air, happy to be free in the yard.
These boys NEED to stay in the yard; there are limits to their freedom because what lies outside the large doors to the "outside world" is dangerous...cars, buses, the busy-ness of a city, and who knows what else.
There are limits in our freedom in Christ, and those limits are for our GOOD, for our protection. True freedom is knowing the limits and knowing what things are quite possibly going to hurt us, either in the short run or in the long run.
Were my boys to go dashing out the open door, seeking more freedom, they would be choosing to run away from the "covering" afforded them by the good boundaries laid out for them in the yard. May we all ask our Lord to set us free into His freedom, within His boundaries, that we can rest in Him alone and in His perfect peace!

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