Love = Boundaries

God loves us so much He created boundaries for us.  We do this for our own children, don't we?  We build fences on our property to keep them safe.  Or we teach them not to run out in the street.  I remember teaching our first two young children where the boundaries were when they played in the front yard.  They could go from the edge of one driveway to the other.  But where the sidewalk ended, they weren't allowed to step over.  Of course, they had to test the limits to know if I meant what I said.  And I had to reinforce those rules...because if they thought they could cross the line, they might just get hit by a car backing out of those driveways when they couldn't be seen.  Did I create boundaries because I wanted to restrain their fun?  Absolutely not!  I wanted them to play and be happy--I just wanted them to do it safely because I loved them so much.

God's first boundary was to the first man, Adam.  He was told he couldn't eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  The consequence?  He would die.  And like many of us, Adam added his own law to that rule.  He'd obviously told Eve she couldn't even touch it!  God had given them so much.  They had everything He'd created at their disposal.  They just couldn't eat from one tree.  But they did.  And when they did, they died that day--but didn't even know it.  They died a spiritual death--a separation from the God who loved them.  Not only did God have to redeem mankind because of that sin, He had to set new boundaries.  Because now if they were to eat from the tree of life, they'd be forever in their sin.  God drove them out of the garden and stationed angels to guard it...for their own good.

Just like I didn't want my children to die by getting hit by a car, God didn't want His children to die...but they did.  God loved us too much to leave us where Adam took us--in death because of sin.  He sent His Son to die for us to provide a way out of this spiritual death.  It's a choice He gives us.  And we need to realize we're making a choice of life...or of death.  His love begs us to choose life!