Prov 22: 28 Old Fashioned

²⁸ Do not move an ancient boundary stone
    set up by your ancestors.

In Solomon's day, boundary stones, or large piles of stones, marked the boundaries of a person's land.  They were a dividing line, or a line that marked something extremely important. 

To move a boundary stone was, in effect, stealing someone else's land. And since God divided up the Promised Land for the children of Israel, it was a pretty big deal to start messing around with boundary lines that He set out.

As the generations were born, lived, and died, there may have been some in the land that thought those "old piles of rock" were not important any more.  Kind of reminds me of the way some folks think about Christian values and principles in our day.

I'm old fashioned. How about you? Do you feel that the old "boundary stones" are out of style? Or not?


How about the boundary stone called the Bible? Do we treasure it as the Word of God, and spend time studying it -- or do we feel it is it not as relevant as it needs to be, in this modern world? Do we utilize it to know right and wrong, and believe earnestly in its truths?

How about the boundary stone of our salvation, and faith in Christ? Are we as happy, and as "jazzed up" about His forgiving our sins as we once were? Do we realize that as Christians, we are to be different from the world? Do we make an effort to live lives that will point others to Him, and do we speak a word for Him when we are afforded an opportunity?  Or do we try to push that boundary stone a little further, so something that we want to do, will appear "OK"?


And how about the boundary stone of the God we serve . . . do we believe that He is, and always will be, here for us? Do we believe that He sees all that we do? There may be times that we emphasize the outward, instead of the inward, but most of the time, are we concerned most about pleasing God, or about pleasing men? 


Lastly, what about the boundary stone that Paul called our "hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:7)  Because our heavenly Father reconciled us to Himself through Jesus, how should we then live? Are we, as Jesus said, "laying up treasure" in heaven?  Are we like Paul, and living in this world, with our eyes "on the prize"?


I'm glad for the old-fashioned landmarks and boundary stones, aren't you?