A team of landscape architects studied the effects of providing a fence around a preschool playground. On playgrounds without fences, children tended to gather close to the school building and their teacher and didn’t stray away. But on fenced-in playgrounds, they enjoyed the entire area. The researchers concluded that boundaries can create a greater sense of freedom. This seems counterintuitive to so many of us who think boundaries restrict enjoyment. Yet fences can provide freedom!
God underlines the freedom His boundaries provide for us. In offering the Ten Commandments to Israel, He promised that a “prosperous” life would result from living life within His divine boundaries. “Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess” (Deuteronomy 5:33). Here the concept of prosperity includes a life lived with good results—a life of quality.
Jesus, who fulfilled the law with His death on the cross, proclaimed, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). Indeed, God’s boundaries are for our good. “Fences” can free us to enjoy the life God created us to experience with Him.