Setting Boundaries

God in his wisdom, having given us the gift of free will, or what contemporaries might call, "freedom of choice," set certain boundaries for its exercise: the ten commandments. Without them, we would abuse our freedom to the point of destroying everyone else and ourselves as well. By setting these limits, we have a context in which to use our free will. Young children love to roam, climb, open doors, touch, push...as parents of toddlers well know. The crib, the play pen, even the "harness" set boundaries to protect these youngsters from harming themselves. So it is with the commandments: they keep us from harm. They say "NO" to certain things, but at the same time, our "freedom of choice" allows us to say yes to what is forbidden, and bear the consequences. They also remind us that we can't say yes to everything in our everyday life, and that no is an option that will keep us from the self-inflicted harm of over-extension, exhaustion, frustration, and "burn-out".
It might be a good use of our Sabbath Day, this Third Sundayof Lent, to reflect on how we use our freedom to stay within the boundaries of the commandments, and how compuslive we are to say yes, and reluctant to say no. Are we using or abusing our "freedom of choice."
Bro. Rene