Crossing Old Fence Lines

Along the ridgeline above me, I saw the remains of an old barbwire fence. Only a few of the posts survived. Those that did were pockmarked with holes the work of decay and weather. On the north-facing side of a solitary post grew a layer of green moss.

Tacked to the post was a limp section of old rusted barbed wire, a prickly reminder of a long-forgotten property line. Standing alongside the post I could see where this now unprotected line of ownership must have progressed. Raising my eyes to the distant horizon, I saw the next post a few hundred yards away and another beyond that.  The other fence posts in between these remaining sentinels had toppled long ago.

As I stood there trying to imagine what those old boundary lines had once defined, I realize today, they define nothing. I was hiking in a large wildlife area. The Denman Wildlife Area is no longer a place sectioned off by wire and multiple property deeds. The entire area was a gift to the community now filled with hiking trails and wildlife and no barbwire fences. While processing my thoughts, the Lord began to speak to me a word that might be for you if you are living like the old boundary lines of your past are still in place and directing your steps.

The Lord said that some of you are still moving through life being restricted by the memory the old and decaying fence lines of past relationships and alliances. You have not yet realized those old barriers have no legal right to restrict your current movement. You have assumed they still have authority, but God has re-deeded your life. You are now walking in a new place, an expanded version of what once was. You have established well-worn pathways along old fence lines that no longer exist. It is time to leave those worn paths and venture across the old fence lines to walk in the wide and open space of your calling.

When the Lord finished talking to me, I continued my hike up the ridge and stepped across the old barrier line between me and the beautiful expanse of the open field. I couldn’t help but think my hike was a metaphor for some of your reading these words. There are no fences in your life. You have been called to the wide open expanse of freedom in Christ.