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This was a phrase that God used to explain to Job how even the waves of the sea have been given a limit to how much they can come into the land. But I was thinking of another way we can use the same phrase to describe how we can limit God from entering into our life. Contrary to a popular heresy that teaches that God controls each of us in His sovereign way, the fact is that how much influence He can have in our life depends on how much we invite Him to enter and how much we yield to Him.

God's intention towards us is for our good. He created man and woman good in every way, and He also gave them good facilities and environment to live in. But when Adam and Eve sinned against God, they not only got separated from God, but their nature also became tainted with sinful tendencies. Needless to say, that is why all of us who are their descendents find our nature corrupted by sin in every way. We sin, because our nature is sinful (Ps.51:5). Now God's plan of salvation is to restore us to the relationship He had planned for man from the beginning. It begins with forgiveness for our sins, but then God teaches us to deny ourselves when we are tempted to sin in any way, in order to do His will and become like Him in our character.

When God tells us to do something, that is because doing that will bless us, and when He tells us not to do something, that is because doing that will cause us harm. But Satan, the current ruler of this world, has blinded people's minds so that they think that doing whatever they like is what will bring them happiness. Then they think that God's commandments are restrictive and designed to take away all fun in their life. They do not recognise that the immediate pleasure that sin gives them will disappear, and that they will then be left with problems that will hurt them, sometimes for the rest of their life (Ga.6:7,8).

We too were like that till we were born again through God's grace. He gave us a mind that desires to stop sinning and to do God's will. But we cannot do that without denying ourselves when temptations come. We know that denying ourselves will also cause pain. But afterwards will come joy and peace. But sometimes we think of the fun we will miss and the pain we will have to bear if we deny ourselves, and then yield to the temptations without choosing to deny ourselves.

Sometimes people say that if we are to live in this world, there are certain compromises we will have to make. Some others say that if they did something God wants them to do, some of their relatives or friends will be upset with them. Some even imagine that even if they disobeyed God, they could still manage to protect themselves from consequences. They imagine they can do what they want, and then ask God for forgiveness!

If we fall for this kind of an approach, we cannot get closer to God or let His good plans work for us in our life. Remember, we ourselves draw the line beyond which we will not allow God.

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