Jesus told them, 

My time  has not yet arrived, but your time is always at hand.

The world cannot hate  you, but it does hate me because I testify about it - that its works are evil.  Go up to the festival yourselves. 

I'm not going up to this festival,  because my time has not yet fully come. 

After he had said these things, he stayed in Galilee.

John 7:6-9 CSB

It's been a month since we were in John's gospel...and this morning what struck me in these verses is that Jesus didn't fight every battle.

We would call this having boundaries.

In this case Jesus boundaries included a place, and some people.

For now at least he was simply not going there, not engaging.

Jesus had his cosmic reasons (my time has not yet fully come), and also seemed to have a really human reason (they hate me).

It's OK to have boundaries.

People

Places

Events

Thoughts

Topics

It's OK to have boundaries to keep us safe, and give the space to grow and thrive. 

We don't have to fight every battle.

Jesus did share his boundaries with his team so they could at least try to understand him.

Set your boundaries.

Share them with someone you trust.

Sometimes it's OK just to do what Jesus did and stay in Galilee.

#boundaries

#juststayinGalilee