The Blessing of Boundary Lines

Two of my three boys play on baseball teams that I help coach. So, I spend many hours a week on the baseball field. My favorite time of the week is when we have baseball tournaments on the weekends.

It seems that our teams have a knack for getting scheduled for the early morning games. When we play early in the morning, we have to get up around 6am to get to the ballpark on time (I thought weekends were for sleeping in!). There are many negative reasons why we don’t like playing early in the morning. The biggest one for me is that it is early in the morning.

However, there is one positive to playing the first game of the day, and that is the fact that the field is in the best condition early in the morning. The dew is still on the ground, the field is soft, the infield has been raked, and the boundary lines are clearly marked.

As play continues throughout the day, the condition of the field deteriorates. The field hardens, the infield that is not raked causes ground balls to bounce unpredictably, slides when stealing bases result in certain skin burns, and the boundary lines become more and more unclear. Every once in a while an umpire will miss a call because the boundary lines are not well defined. A bad call on the baseball field always results in an eruption and outward display of outrage from the team, coaches, parents, and fans impacted by the call. When this happens, it makes the game less enjoyable.

Before every championship game in the tournaments, the field crew takes extra time to rake the infield and reestablish the boundary lines with fresh chalk. As the coaches, teams, parents and fans of the two teams playing in the championship game watch and wait for the field crew to finish their duties, there is one thing that is very evident to all who are watching: this game is very important.

Coaching baseball for four years has taught me two things about boundaries: (1) Boundaries mean the game is serious, and (2) boundaries make the game more fun.

Do you associate boundaries with something that is negative and limiting, or something that is positive and liberating?

In Psalm 16:6-8 King David wrote this about his Lord and boundaries: “6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. 
7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. 
8 I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

King David associated boundary lines with something that was pleasant. In fact, boundaries gave King David a greater confidence in the goodness of God, and a peace of mind knowing that while he lived in those boundaries, he was a recipient of God’s counsel and protection.

Just as a game without boundaries is not a serious one, a Christian without boundaries is not serious about his or her walk with the Lord. A game without boundaries is not as enjoyable and very chaotic. Similarly, a person without boundaries will live in chaos, and as a result, miss the life God designed for him or her. A person without boundaries will live in bondage and insecurity, while those with clearly defined boundary lines are liberated to live life with great joy and pleasure.

Have you established boundaries in your life? If so, I trust that they have fallen in pleasant places for you!

Celebrating Justice

When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers. Proverbs 21:15

After ten long years of chasing down the world’s number one terrorist, Osama bin Laden, United States military forces killed him at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. As the news stations broadcasted the report many Americans celebrated publicly. This “celebration of death”, as some labeled it, stirred up controversy in our nation. The controversy escalated when many Americans started to demand that the photos of a dead bin Laden be released for viewing.

Let me ask you a question: What do you feel like doing when you think about United States military forces killing Osama bin Laden? That is an easy question for many people to answer. They feel like celebrating.

Why do people feel so happy about the thought of someone dying? I’m convinced that more people despise the thought of someone dying than enjoy it. I don’t like the thought of someone being killed. Gosh, I don’t even like horror movies and ultimate fighting contests. So, what makes so many people thrilled about the death of Osama bin Laden?

The reason so many people are celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden is because justice was served. Is it okay to celebrate justice? Absolutely! In fact, it would be unnatural to not celebrate justice. When justice is not served it causes people to be hard- hearted and cynical.

Psalm 50:4-6 says: “4God summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people: 
5 “Gather to me this consecrated people, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” 
6 And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice.”

One of the main attributes of God is that He is just. The greatest demonstration of God’s justice was when He sent His son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins. The Bible teaches us that we have all sinned, and the wages of our sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 3:23, 6:23).

Because God is just, someone had to die for our sins. The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that He became our substitute for the consequences of our sins. That is why every Sunday, all throughout the world in millions of churches, people praise the name of Jesus Christ. Christians remember Jesus’ death and celebrate God’s demonstration of justice.

There are certain deaths we celebrate. We celebrate the death of Jesus because He gave His life as a ransom so that people could be saved from their sins and eternal death. We celebrate the death of Osama bin Laden because he used his life to murder innocent people.

Both deaths remind us of two simple facts: God is our Judge who loves justice, and when justice is served people will celebrate!