Sacred Boundary

By Josephine Lim Weston

I had a dream last night of me moving to a new house. It’s a big house and each functional area is spacious. The living room/reception room is surrounded by glass windows from top to bottom overlooking a view from the hill, while the dining area is on a higher level and it has a big dining table with chairs all around. Suddenly I was outside my house and looking in. I saw a friend whom now in my dream is my neighbour and she was talking to someone on her mobile phone and inviting them to join her for dinner in my house using my dining table as if her own.

I sought my neighbour’s permission to have a look around her house thinking maybe her house is smaller or doesn’t have a proper dining area, but to my surprise she has three good sized dining areas with tables and chairs and children running around and her husband reading newspaper on one of the dining tables. I also observed there’s no boundary or separation between her house and mine and her garden and mine. It seems she is taking over more and more of my house each day.

My house indeed is brighter and more spacious with a taller ceiling, but I’ve only got one reception area and one dining area. My neighbour has three separate dining areas but no reception area as far as I could see (although she can easily make up one with one of her dining areas). Her house is dimmer as she has only got one small window on her front wall barely allowing sunlight through which I mentioned to her and she agreed.

Then I told her, “You’ve got three dining areas of your own, why do you want to use my dining area to have meals with your friends?” She kept quiet.

I walked up to my dining area and saw through the big glass window that someone put up a big ice-cream backdrop promoting different flavours. Then I realised my house is situated next to a village market on a hill in Holland. What a surprise!

I then woke up from my dream and asked the Lord the meaning of the dream.

The interpretation came. My house is sacred and reflects my soul, and it is the temple of the Lord. It seems I have not set effective boundary in my soul/life and had allowed lots of things to distract me from what’s most important and sacred. Now my “neighbour” is trespassing more and more into my sacred place and eating away my life. I have to put a stop on this and allow no more distractions and intrusions.

I believe this dream is not just speaking to me but many of you will be able to relate to it as well. We have allowed the world, people in our everyday life, work, news, politics and all kinds of distractions that disguise as “priorities” to rob us of our sacred boundaries hence our souls. We have to be vigilant to safeguard that by not allowing anything or anyone to take away this precious quiet time we're supposed to spend with our God daily. Let not our souls be crowded by the attention-seeking world around us. I'm not referring to just studying God's word and praying get-by prayers every day but I'm actually referring to good and satisfying quality time of meditating on His word until it sinks into our spirit, praying passionately and allowing God to speak and minister to our innermost beings.

Once we have set sacred boundaries and put God first by spending quality time with Him and allowing Him to refresh, minister and speak to our inner beings then we will have the overcoming spirit to face the world around us instead of succumbing to it.

Many of us find time fleeting away so that we don’t have spare time to do anything else apart from being busy and living life. We become like a hamster on a wheel which we hope someday we can come off from only when we’re rich or retired. The truth is we can come off from the hamster wheel that robs us of our lives and inner joy and peace if we admit our need for God and make it our priority to spend precious quiet time with the Lord and let Him minister to us. Allowing Him to speak transforming words into our lives, pray and meditate on His word. Let’s acknowledge Him in our daily walk, not only with our words but even when people aren’t looking and behind closed doors; let’s seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto us (Matthew 6:33).

Even the most effective, powerful, overcoming and highly productive Jesus often withdrew himself to lonely places and prayed (Luke 5:16) so He can be refreshed and charged up by God his Father to continue being effective in service to Him even unto death.

By seeking the Lord first and make Him our priority, we’ll find time and wisdom to do things that are of priority. Our life is more fruitful and worth living instead of being pushed around by circumstances and demands of everyday life.

Our victory lies on protecting our sacred boundaries and putting Christ first; and we’ll find more time to do what’s most important that lead to life, fruitfulness and fulfilment on every level.