Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Boundaries”
Our Bible verse for today: “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” Genesis 1:28 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “We must have reasonable boundaries.”
Ok admit it, how often do act as if Genesis 1:28 is your personal responsibility? Seriously, do you act as if you’re personally responsible for everything and everyone and for every task, and that somewhere in the world there may be fish in the sea or birds in the sky that are missing your personal attention? Most of us would laugh and say “no” but the way we actually live our lives tells a different story (I’m preaching to myself here).
Many of us today are stretched way too thin in terms of the demands on our time and the number of activities and responsibilities we have crammed into our lives. The result is a population of people who feel hassled and harried, discontent and often unhappy – and tired. It’s amazing that in the most technologically advanced society that has ever existed, enjoying the highest standard of living that any society has ever had, we also have one of the highest percentages of people on anti-depressant medications of any nation in the world. How can people have so much and still be so stressed, so tired, and so unhappy? Most of us need to gain better control over our lives.
In their wonderful and helpful book “Boundaries” Henry Cloud and John Townsend write, “Part of taking responsibility or ownership, is knowing what is our job and what it isn’t … It takes wisdom to know what we should be doing and what we shouldn’t. We can’t do everything.”
Many of us need to take steps to slow down and to simplify our lives. We need to learn to say “no” more often. Yes, sometimes your boss needs to hear you say “No, I can’t work that overtime”. Sometimes the adult children who continue to rely on us more than they should, and who continue to expect more from us than they should, have to be told “Ok, that’s it, enough is enough”. Sometimes the PTA project needs to be led by somebody else. You get the idea.
This month we’re going to devotionally consider how we can establish and maintain proper boundaries in our lives. And as we will see, doing so is Biblical. The old saying is still true, “God created us to be human “beings” not human “doings” “. We have to learn to establish proper boundaries in our lives. I look forward to exploring this subject with you.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 