Baa-baahhh. I'm a sheep.

Boundaries.

Limits.

Fences.

What do these three have in common? The ability to hold back something. We all have set boundaries for ourselves at one point and we stand firm to them. Take for example, sheep. Shepherds throughout time have set sheep in enclosed areas, fenced them in or set them in a pastures where they cannot wander off to danger. If a sheep was to escape, they endanger themselves to the natural elements or worse, the predators that seek to devour and destroy these vulnerable creatures.

In a similar way, we are sheep. As followers of Christ, some of us have boundaries, limits, that we can’t cross. They vary from person to person. They might be tight and small or wide and open-spaced. Either way there are limits for each person. I was complaining to someone the other day, about how I feel like some people have more freedom than I do. They can do things without feeling the slightest conviction whereas in my case, if I do the same thing, I just don’t feel right. A poor example, is whenever a friend of mine gets in a relationship, they hold hands, hug and kiss like lovebirds. Should I ever get in a relationship, God has already set in my heart not to do that. Not because I think I’m more holy or I want to be more spiritual. No, because I know my weaknesses and I dare not cross to a place where I can sin against my God. To those who can hold hands and do all that without failing like I would, good for them. God has set the boundary a little tighter for me.

I’m not talking about relationships, okay? I’m talking about boundaries and why it’s important as followers of Christ that we should heed them and not try to cross them. They are there for our safety and placed there by the Good Shepherd. He wants to keep us from danger and He seeks to protect us.

Another example is a little bit recent. I downloaded this new software at the advice of my sister. It’s called Cold Turkey and what it does is SO helpful and beneficial for a college student like me. This software blocks sites that can prove to be distracting all in a time frame that you set yourself. I downloaded it and blocked Facebook, Pinterest, Youtube, Amazon, various blogs for a couple hours. During that time frame I was able to freely do my classwork without feeling the anticipation of checking anything. New products, blogs, notifications, videos anything that could distract me from what I needed to do. I got so much accomplished and even put in some craft projects because I couldn’t be at my computer since those sites were blocked. This software was a boundary I had to set for myself so I could focus on my classes.

I need boundaries and limits because there are distractions out there which have the potential to take me away from Christ. I might get upset at Him and ask, “Why aren’t You telling them not to do that, like You’re telling me?” My understanding is because I will fail. I know, because I’ve crossed the boundaries out of rebellion and I found myself in places I didn’t want to be in.

There was a classmate I knew in high school…I knew there was something wrong but I couldn’t figure it out. This guy was nice, proper…but his smile was plastic and fake. He would say the nicest, flattering things…but God placed it on my heart to stay away. But I didn’t want to. Why? Because this fellow said he needed help. Out of sympathy, I fell into the trap of trying to help. One time, he came to school and showed me how he hurt himself. And he said he needed help…alarms flashed off in my head and I was struck. But I wanted to help…even my mom had a dream of me venturing somewhere I shouldn’t be going to and she warned me to be careful the day I tried to talk some sense into this fellow. She didn’t know what was happening. I just never bothered to tell her. But somehow he pursued me and I still am not sure what exactly what happened but next thing I knew, that week he was threatening me.

God pulled me out. I was safe.

I’ve learned to heed His voice at all times and to trust God where He tells me to go and where not to go.

What does this say, really?

God set a boundary, He placed it on my heart to stay away, yet out of the sake of trying to help (and plain disobedience) I found myself in a troubling place.

Friends, heed the voice of the Lord. Listen to your God-given conscience because He placed it there for a reason. The Holy Spirit is there to guide and show you because we are His sheep. The boundaries He sets don’t balk or kick against them. He places them there for our good. The enemy waits outsides those boundaries, waiting to attack. Don’t fall prey into it.

“Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way, walk in it,”
Whenever you turn to the right hand
Or whenever you turn to the left.”

-Isaiah 30:21

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”

-John 10:27

“⁸ Be sober, be vigilant; because  your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

-1 Peter 5:8