What is a "hedge of protection'? I have heard it said, and used this term so many times, and I just love the symbolism of this. Think about a hedge for just a moment. When we lived in Washington, we had a hedge in front of our house. It was a pain to maintain, because it was tremendously thick! So thick in fact, birds lived, and nested in there. They were not afraid of being found, because you truly couldn't see in it. The branches were intertwined, and it was dense with leaves, so many, you could barely see through it, and our grandson could not break through it and get into the street. Therefore, it became a "hedge of protection" for the birds, and our grandson. It was a border. He was safe on the inside of this border.
You know Christians are often looked down on because people say we have too many rules. The truth is, we have borders, boundaries, "hedges of protection." It's also true, that everyone has these, not just Christians. Now some Christians have focused on, and talked about these rules, boundaries, hedges, and barked at people when they haven't listened or stayed inside the borders, much of the time without a single drop of love, and understanding. They have also been accusatory towards the people not inside the hedge. Instead of what Jesus would do, which is love on, be an example towards, and help those outside of the hedge. Try to show them the protection and peace they would find inside of the hedge.
I believe people really want protection, boundaries, to feel safe. Like I said above, we all live with "hedges", or boundaries. We have homes, the walls are the boundaries, or hedges to keep the elements outside, and us safely inside. We teach our children not to leave the boundaries of their yard, especially when they are little, so they are safe. There are rules we learn while learning to drive, to keep us safe on the roads, which also have boundaries. In our world, nations are divided by boundaries, borders, for our protection. So while there might be people who say they don't want rules, boundaries, "hedges", they don't really mean that. They might think they do, but it's not reality. We have an innate need to feel safe, secure, protected. We all need boundaries, hedges.
I LOVE that Jesus is the Creator of our "hedge of protection". He sees and knows everything. This is truth, and because He does, He wants to set up those boundaries to keep us inside those hedges so we don't wander into something that isn't safe. Even the enemy knows about this "hedge", as he references it in Job 1:10. He knows that people inside of it are safe with The Lord. It's not about the hedge itself, it's about knowing The One Who knows what's best for us, and keeping us safe and protected, where we will feel love and peace. We just need to trust this, trust Him.
It always comes down to what we are going to do with Him. Knowing He loves me, and wants to ALWAYS protect me, helps me want to stay safe within the boundaries/hedges He's given. Now doesn't that seem simple? It really is, it's about His love for us, not what I want to do in my selfish ambition, thinking I know more than God. All those rules that people think we are strangled with, help us to live safely within His Arms, what better place to be! You can read more about the great lengths that God goes to for us to know He surrounds us, to protect, and help us find refuge and peace, in Psalm 91.
Because I LOVE the symbolism, I love this phrase. God has wisdom beyond what I can imagine, and also more love than I know what to do with. SO I will trust Him, offer my life to Him, and allow Him to give me boundaries/hedges. AMEN!
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