My Dog’s Boundaries and the Word of God

Stella

Stella

Stella is a great Golden Retriever.  She has been at our home for three years now and is the most friendly dog you will ever meet.  In fact she loves people so much that it is sometimes a problem, because she greets everyone and begs them to pet her.  Stella wears a collar that works wirelessly to keep her in our yard.  The collar has established a circular perimeter boundary that she knows.  It allows her to visit the neighbors yard a little, but not too far.  We joke that our neighbors love her more than we do.

Recently we lost Stella’s collar.  These collars have gotten very expensive.  It was going to be $129 to replace the collar, so we were waiting and I was hoping Stella knew her boundaries well enough to stay in them.  But Stella began to test the boundary limits more and more.  She first began hanging out at the neighbors home some, then we would catch her across the street or even down the road. This all came to a head last weekend when we couldn’t find her one evening. This was very unlike Stella.  We even drove around looking for her, but she was off exploring or hanging out at someone’s house.  She wandered home like a rebellious teenager the next morning, literally with her head down and tail between her legs, because she knew she was in trouble.

I was motivated even more to find the collar, or bite the bullet and buy a new one.  Thankfully, I was able to find the collar.  Stella has now returned to her old self. She is much calmer, back to laying on her blanket and sleeping in the sun.

But Stella illustrates a similar nature in humans.  We tend to wander slowly away from the boundaries that are best for us.  We test our boundaries, if nothing happens we continue to push them.  Until we are spending whole nights and days away from the safety of home.

Paul in Galatians 3:19 is discussing the purpose of law, and specifically the law of Moses.  Paul says it was “added because of transgressions.”  In Romans 7:7, Paul says he would not have known sin if it wasn’t for the law.  The law of God defines sin for humanity.  It teaches us right from wrong.  It sets proper boundaries for us to live by so that we can dwell in peace, unity, love, and enjoy salvation.

Just like with Stella, mankind needed the law of Moses to set some boundaries.  This is why the 10 Commandments have been a great moral code for societies down through the ages.  The New Testament message of Christ gives us further boundaries like Jesus sermon on the Mount teachings that describe how we should live to be blessed.

But like Stella, we tend to want to throw off the collar and go exploring.  This is why we must keep ourselves in the Word of God.  His commandments are not “burdensome” (1 John 5:3).  They will give us an abundant life here and in eternity.¹  When we reject the boundaries of the Word of God, our souls and very lives are in grave danger!  This is the reason our society is in such disarray and moral decline is because we have thrown off the boundaries of the Word of God.  

Let us stay in the boundaries set by the Word of God and encourage others to do the same!

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¹  John 10:10

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