Tuesday Devotional

Max’ism – Setting Boundaries
Exodus 20:1-20

I have a full time job, which means for a large part of the day Max is alone. . .with the cat. While not ideal, the situation worked for a while, but gradually I started coming to home to more and more messes—a trash can turned over, things scattered around the floor, not to mention the little gifts Max sometimes left behind. You know what I mean. All of that was inconvenient, but it wasn’t a major problem until I found him tangled up with an appliance. Yep. Somehow, he’d managed to worm his way into the storage closet, tip the vacuum over, and entangle himself in the power cord. I shudder to think how long he was in there. I’m assuming it was a confrontation with the kitty that led to his predicament. Either way, I knew I had to do something.

So, it was off to Wal-Mart to buy baby gates.

Knowing what an athlete Max is, I thought it wise to buy gates too tall for him to jump over. He was curious at first, sniffing the new contraptions with interest. But then he discovered what they were for. The first time I left for work with the gates up and Max secured behind them, confined to the kitchen, hallway, and bathroom, he pouted, and whined, and cried, sadly watching me leave from the window next to the door.

I ran home at lunch to check on him. While he still wasn’t happy, he wasn’t tangled up in a cord, either. I turned the radio, having heard that any noise in the house helps keep a pet from feeling lonely. It took nearly a month, but Max has accepted that there are days he’ll be confined by the gates, and he no longer whines when I leave, content to play with the crate full of toys I’ve bought him, and listen to Bob Barker announcing the winner on the Big Wheel.

Which got me thinking.

Boundaries are a good thing. They keep us from harm. They limit the trouble we get into. So why do we buck against the boundaries God has set for us, knowing that He placed them with our best interests at heart? If we’re certain that our God loves us, shouldn’t we be glad that He cares enough to see to our welfare?

I know I am. And I think Max is, too.