God established boundaries. Why, you may ask. Well, let’s go back to the beginning of mankind’s story.

In the beginning, when everything was formless and empty, there was chaos in absence of boundaries. So God separated the light from the darkness paving the way for new life.

Boundaries

When mankind became a crowd governing authorities had to be established. I think we all know the reason why. An unruly crowd can quickly turn into a murderous mob. Anarchy is unhealthy and self-destructive. God however has our best interest at heart. He wants us to live, not to die, ergo the institution of human government is endorsed by Him.

We would not need a governing authority had we stayed with God in the first place.

The big rejection happened in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve’s emancipation from God’s leadership, which culminated in their ejection from Paradise. Exit Stage Right! Mankind’s first exodus was its exodus from God’s Garden. Isn’t the Garden of Eden a fairy tale? I don’t think so. Whether or not the Garden of Eden was a geographical place I’m not here to debate. However, was there a time when God and mankind was an item? I believe so. I call that Paradise.

No surprise, also Paradise has its boundaries. We need to ask ourselves: do we like boundaries? Probably nobody does, but meanwhile we have come to the painful conclusion that boundaries indeed are necessary. Adam and Eve first didn’t see that. They questioned a forbidden tree, and a snake used this mindset to plant some seeds of doubt. Those doubts really pulled the rug from underneath the first couple. Paradise is founded on trusting in God’s goodness. Distrust ended a Paradise relationship.

Back to those God-given government authorities. Well, the very first boundary, that forbidden tree, didn’t suit us. How about a forest of forbidden trees in a man’s rule book? Experiencing human rule versus God’s rule, we quickly discover that a whole lot more regulations are involved under human government.

Paradise still exists. Trusting in God, we are right back in that beautiful Garden. We might be governed by temporary authorities on the outside, but on the inside our hearts are free when submitted to God. Paradise is not bound by geographical distance. It is as close or as distant as we want it to be. In fact it is only one decision away – our decision to make peace with God.