In Pleasant Places

We have a little phrase in our house that is oft repeated, especially with little Olson boy #2. It goes like this, "Obedience keeps you safe. If you don't obey my voice, I cannot keep you safe." We don't tell our boys to not run across the parking lot because we want to spoil their fun. We don't tell our boys to keep a distance from the hot oven because we want to crush their sense of exploration. We don't tell our boys to not color on the walls because we want to quench their creativity. We have these boundaries and rules to keep our boys safe. We love them more than life and want nothing more than to keep our boys physically, emotionally, and spiritually safe. We recognize that the Lord has given us a mandate to set boundaries for our children for their good and for His glory. This is why we set boundaries.

Many years ago I heard someone call Christianity the religion of "no." I can see how that could be a perception of Christianity. No drugs. No sleeping around. No cursing. No drunkenness. No sex before marriage. No, no, no... But oh how misunderstood this is! I'm quite certain my children sometimes think I am the Mommy of No. Yet my "no" is never to cause frustration or pain. My "no" is to keep my children from frustration and pain. I love Psalm 16. The psalmist recognized that God's boundaries are good. Very good.

"The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places..."

Oh that my children would see that the boundaries we have set around them are pleasant! Oh that I would see that the boundaries the Lord has set for me are pleasant. In meditating on the entirety of this Psalm, I realize there is some work that must happen before the boundaries can be seen as pleasant. A correct fear of the Lord and a correct recognition of Who God is must be firmly planted in my heart and mind. A recognition of the fact that following another god, whether that god be wealth, relationships, jobs, [fill in the blank], will only result in sorrow. Not just temporary or isolated sorrow either, but multiplied sorrow. What hope and joy we have in Christ when we see that the boundaries are set in pleasant places. We are promised a great inheritance in Christ! We are given assurance that we cannot be shaken, that the Lord will be continually before us. We will not be alone within those sweet boundaries. Even as we act on convictions that often open the door for ridicule and other unkindnesses, our hearts are glad because we know we are secure in Christ. The boundary lines are in pleasant places and guide us in a path of hope, joy, and peace.

Being a Christ-follower is not a religion of "no." On the contrary, it full of "yes." Yes to hope, yes to joy, yes to love, yes to security. The boundaries are good and pleasant.

"You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever." Psalm 16:11