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Boundaries

READ: Jeremiah 5:20-29

[God has] placed the sand as the bound of the sea. —Jeremiah 5:22


Not a year goes by without a natural disaster causing chaos somewhere in the world. Floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis destroy lives, homes, and livelihoods.

No one would argue that the seas have a “right” to violate their established boundaries and crash across the coastline. In fact, people agree that disaster occurs whenever the sea breaches the shoreline. God Himself has “placed the sand as the bound of the sea” (Jer. 5:22).

God also established boundaries for human behavior. Yet not a day goes by without countless violations of His commands, resulting in disastrous physical and spiritual consequences. Amazingly, we often argue that we have the “right” to violate these boundaries.

In the days of the prophet Jeremiah, God’s people had stepped out of bounds, using deceit to become rich and refusing to defend the needy (5:27-28). The result was disaster. God said, “Your sins have withheld good from you” (v.25).

Within creation there is inherent order. Violating it has inherent consequences. God in His kindness simply and lovingly communicated to us the order of things so that we can avoid those consequences. We are wise to know and to stay within His prescribed boundaries.
—Julie Ackerman Link

Lord, keep us on the narrow way,
Where no corruption, woe, nor evil can destroy,
Where Your right hand defeats the worldly fray
To lead us into Your eternal joy. —Mollon


Disregarding God’s order leads to disorder!