Yucatan 7....Boundaries ......
Driving around the area in the Yucatan, was Like driving in tunnels...miles and miles of brush, trees about thirty feet high, brush so dense it looked impenetrable except for the small forest animals...
Most every family had a building made of poles and thatched roofs from this jungle of small trees, they also used this brush for feed for their animals...we saw many bikes loaded with branches on their way home with this staple...as well as wood for their cooking fires...but there was plenty of brush to go around, the forest wasn't being denuded....
When a family decided to build, they staked out their piece of ground, built a rock fence about 3 feet tall all around it, cleared some of the brush, built their stick home and eventfully built a cement block home as well as an outhouse. Their water came to a spot in the fence with hoses attached. They had water tanks set on a frame for Gravity flow to the house or wherever... Each parcel looked pretty much the same... Some had gardens, livestock areas...although the chickens ranged freely, some had fruit trees, and even flowers...some parcels were neat and well kept while others were not...
But each had their boundary...
In the book of Numbers, there are lists of boundaries as God portions out the promised land to various tribes...God gave them specific pieces of ground which stayed in the family to be handed down from generation to generation.
It was both freeing and intentional to give boundaries...they knew their limits...
Psalm 16:5-6 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.
In Hosea, God was protecting Gomer or Israel by "walling " her in...keeping her safe from the evilness outside the boundaries...
Hosea 2:6 Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.
There have been times when raising our children that we prayed for boundaries that only God could make for safety for our children...we had set boundaries, but they chose to extend them and then they could only be kept safe by God...we could physically do nothing...as we handed them over and over the the real Safekeeper.... And now I find that I pray the same for them and their children...God has them in his mighty hand...
He does the same for me as well...He blocks certain paths and opens up others for my safety as well...so that I don't stray or "free range" following after the lusts of life ...there are consequences for going outside the boundaries ...but I desire those "pleasant places" and Him to be my inheritance...as David states in his song...
Thank YOU for the boundaries that you have established....help me to be thankful for Your portion and security ...
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