If you can remember many stories ago, I was telling you about my very big black dog named Hoss. Do you remember him? That’s right; he’s the one who runs around in his new fenced-in backyard. He is the best dog we’ve ever had even though I have to clean up after him before I cut the grass. Yes, he still leaves his piles for me to pick up.
Well, Hoss has been walking around testing his new fence. He’s been trying to see if there is any way he could get outside the fence into the woods behind our house or into the yards of our neighbors. And guess what? Hoss found one loose board along the picket fence in a corner of the yard we cannot easily see from the house. He must have pressed against that board pretty hard with his nose or with his big paws, cuz’ he knocked it completely off and got out.
Now, I can’t imagine how Hoss got out, cuz’ the hole seemed too small for his very big, wide body. But he did. I went looking for nails, but couldn’t find the right size. This gave me an excuse to go where all men secretly want to go: Lowes. I found my nails (and a few other things I did not need), and started across the back yard with my trusty hammer in my hand.
I was so set on the job at hand that, of course, I was not watching where I was walking. Yep, I stepped in one of Hoss’s piles. This is the only time I become mad at Bill Bowerman, the inventor of the waffle sole for running shoes. No matter how hard you try, you just can’t get all the dog pile out of those “nooks and crannies.”
While I was pounding nails into the fence for Hoss’s protection, I got to thinkin’. I remembered that we had compared the fence to the rules or commands God gives us in His Word. They allow us to be free, as long as we stay inside them.
When we start to test God’s rules, He will come along and remind us of His Words with love and discipline. Many times He uses parents and grandparents or teachers to “mend the fences” of His rules for us. But in the end we have to choose to stay inside the love and protection of “His fence.”
And another thing…when we break God’s rules, or break through “His fence”, it won’t just hurt us. It will hurt the people around us. Our friends and family members, who love us, are always hurt by our sin. As they try to help us follow God or follow our example and break God’s rules themselves, they may step into the messes we’ve made. Sometimes these messes are difficult to clean up.
Best idea? Stay inside the fence of God’s love and protection by knowing and following His Word and by listening to the leading His Holy Spirit. And remember: God is using your parents, grandparents and teachers as those who are showing you what His Word and Spirit may be saying to you!
I like John 10:27-29 when thinking about His love and protection: “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from Me, for My Father has given them to Me, and He is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.”
Can we pray about it? Dear Father in Heaven, thank You for loving me. I know I test Your rules over my life at times. But I want to live inside the “fence” of Your love and discipline, so that I stay in a close friendship to You at all times. Keep me in Your powerful hand! In Jesus name, Amen.
Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson
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