Skip to main content
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

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,  for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see - such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. Colossians 1:15-16 NLT OK so this is an English translation of a letter Paul wrote to a church 2,000 years ago, but does it feel like Paul is wrestling with words and ideas to try and capture all of who Jesus is, of who God is, of how does it work that the walking around Jesus was also there before the beginning of the beginning of everything we can see and touch and know. Not only that but Jesus was somehow the agent of everything that has been made in the physical, social, and spiritual.  Jesus is at the centre of it all.  Walking around Jesus. Cooking fish for breakfast Jesus. Heart aching as he ...
Friday! Proverbs! The Lord hates six things;  in fact, seven are detestable to him:  (1) arrogant eyes,  (2) a lying tongue,  (3) hands that shed innocent blood, ... Proverbs 6:16-17 CSB This list of things that Proverbs describes that our God stands against, are anti-God, must be things that God isn't.  It's easy to use Proverbs as a weapon, to accuse or label others, but Proverbs is about finding the way of wisdom, of life, it's about the heart, mine, yours, ours.  And it's full of metaphor. Arrogant eyes. Eyes aren't arrogant, they're just that part of my body that receives visual information aren't they? Arrogant eyes. My tongue doesn't tell lies by itself, I do that. Hands that shed innocent blood - I haven't taken anyone's life... The word here for "hands" is "yad" and it is used literally and figuratively- it means an open hand (not closed) and is about direction and use of power. Proverbs invites us to sit with these p...
Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. [37] Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. [38] She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38 NLT We don't have anyone live at my church (maybe we should?).  But I wonder how Anna would describe her life? Would she say her life is defined by loss, sorrow? Or by service and dedication, a life that contains suffering and loss? What we do know is that she recognised something important was going on with Jesus - the Rescuer she had been waiting for was here. By our standards we might judge Anna's life as a bit of a waste - yet he...