How Close to the Fence?

A fence is a boundary.

A fence can keep what is inside safe, and what is outside out.

We had an invisible fence for our dog once - and she was so stubborn she broke through it every time.  She was determined to see what was on the other side of the fence!  She did not care if it shocked her - she dealt with the pain and went through it anyway.

In life, it is so interesting sometimes to go to the other side of the fence - to try out what looks so good...  A former Sunday School teacher told us once that the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence, but be careful - it may be because of a septic tank!

However, today I don't want to talk about leaving the boundary of a physical fence.

I want to talk about our spiritual fence.  The one that separates us from the world.  Not the world of people, but the world system and its ideas of what is "best" or the "latest and greatest."

How close are we to the fence - without going over? 
As Paul Tripp says, "Are you so close to the fence that you have fence marks in your face?"

Let's examine that thought for a bit, shall we?

Every day one who calls him/herself a Christian has a choice to stay in the boundaries the Lord has set for all.

These boundaries were not set up to be a killjoy.  So many times people believe staying within the boundaries God has designed causes us to lead "boring" lives.  There is a freedom and joy found in the safety and blessings of those boundaries because God, Who sees and knows all, wants to help us not fall into Satan's traps.

BUT.....
What if you are staying in those boundaries, but you are pressing so close to the fence, wanting what the world has, that your face has permanent marks on it from the fence??

I have been doing this Bible study this summer:

It has been convicting.

It has been beautiful.

It has continually shown me how we can get carried away by the world and long for what does not satisfy.

I am not going into the "back story" of Hosea for this post - but just know Israel was in a mess because they were just too close to the fence that they had permanent fence marks in their face.  They had left their first love - the God who loved them faithfully.

What exactly do I mean by the fence marks in the face? 

The Israelites - just like many Christians today - were still worshiping God but were so closely resembling the nations around them that no one could tell a difference between those who were God-honoring and those of the idol-worshiping nations.

I see so much of that around me today. 

I see it in my children as they face temptations that are in their faces all of the time.  I see the struggle they have with their faces at the fence, longing for what they see their friends have or do but all the while "staying in the fence."  I see where they think the grass really is greener, better, more alive on the other side of that fence and if they could just get close enough they would find the joy they think their friends/fellow teens have in the same circumstances.

I see where others might say they are still in the boundary of the Lord, but their hearts jumped that fence long ago.  They are truly not worshiping God alone. Their faces bear the marks of power, money, lust, popularity, appearance....  I could go on.

They are never satisfied with the Lord. 

I can see that in me.

But in the Lord is where we get all things we have - we just fail to recognize who truly gives us all things.

He alone satisfies.

He alone helps us realize the other side of that fence of the world's view of joy really is a septic tank.  A septic tank of sin.  

Let's do a little test to see how close you are to the fence.  Are there fence marks in your face?

How do you talk?  
No, really... how do you talk when you are not around "church" people.  How do you talk inside your mind?

How do you dress?  
Could someone know you are a Christian by what you choose to wear?  No, I am not talking about wearing an outfit covering all parts and showing no skin, but how about too much skin?  Would you be ashamed to wear your clothing in a church building?  If so, think about this - your BODY is God's temple - how are you taking care of it?  Do you look a bit too much like the "septic tank" of the world dressed you?  Just because it is the latest and greatest style does not mean you are staying within the boundaries the Lord gives us - you may be having fence marks in your face!

What are your actions? 
If someone were to drive behind you - what would they observe?  If someone were to be in line with you as you wait at a checkout or just somewhere you have to wait - what would they see?  Do you act any differently than those we see in TV shows or what the world models as "OK?"

What do you think of yourself?
I am not saying to go around and self-hate, but I also know we are to show a humble spirit.  Do you think a lot of yourself?  Do you want everyone around you to know it?  It is called PRIDE and it was the very first sin committed.  It is the deepest sin of us all.  It is the way we all have a little too much of the fence on our faces.

What do you do with Jesus?
No, really.  What do you do with Him every other day of the week besides Sunday?  Do you live one way on Sunday and live another way the next six days?  Do you take Him at His Word or do you just think of Jesus as your "fire protection" for eternity?  He desires a relationship with us, but so many just want the "fence" of eternity but stay so closely looking out of the fence at what the world is doing that they miss Jesus there all along.  They miss that beautiful time with Him.

What do you spend your time and money doing?
Are there things that consume your time and money that have nothing to do with the Lord?  My Preacher has said many times "Show me what a man/woman spends money on or time doing and that is their god."  Doesn't mean that enjoying extracurricular activities are bad.  It means, what consumes you?  Where is your allegiance?

All of these things that cause us to have fence marks in our faces are idols.  Anything that draws us away from the will of God is an idol in our life.

While doing the Bible study above, I have seen even more how Israel's decline was gradual - it was just having the fence marks of the world around them in their faces.

We are no different.

God has been so patient.  He is so kind and loving that He does not stop loving us when we keep pressing into the fence.

Instead, He causes the fence to become rusty, broken, and where the marks we receive on our face actually scar us.  That is when Hosea 6:1 becomes so sweet ~

 Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

God never leaves us.

God's love is unfailing.

When we have those scars on our faces from the fence we have been pressing, He will bind us up.  

It is only through Christ that we are able to have all that we really crave. 

Stop pressing in on the fence looking at the world on the other side, turn around, and see the beauty in the beautiful boundaries that the Lord has in given to you and me.

Psalm 107:1-2, 4-7

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever! 

 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
    whom he has redeemed from trouble

Some wandered in desert wastes,
    finding no way to a city to dwell in; 

 hungry and thirsty,
    their soul fainted within them.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress. 

 He led them by a straight way
    till they reached a city to dwell in.