Limitations.

We have a cage for my dog. It's a bit oversize for her, actually, but she sleeps in it every night. It was part of the 'deal' which helped me talk my loving wife into allowing us to add this creature to our lives - "she sleeps in a cage, how much mess could she possibly make around this place?"

Yeah, right. It's funny that the dog does enjoy laying right near us at all times. I take her with me to San Diego in the truck, and she will sprawl across the rest of the bench seat, but she has to have her head on my lap or at least touching against my leg. And at home, IF we are sitting nearby, she will go lay in the cage and sigh. It's her 'den,' her little private place.

OK - so the bloom might be off the rose a little bit on the animal - but the cage sits there in the corner and it makes me think.

Do I have limitations in my life? Hard lines I have formed which I will not cross? Some of them are like the dog's cage: they are useful, positive, good healthy control and even safety. Once I even put the dog's cage into the back of the truck and she went with us to the lake, an hour drive one way. That time the cage was not a limitation, but a tool to allow more freedom. Without it, she would have had to stay home alone, something she despises.

So what limitations do I have which give me freedom - and how often do I let limitations become anchors - things which limit me, stymie me, even grieve the Spirit of God?

I think it's time to look at limitations, lines, barriers, limits in my life. God, show me the good ones and help me bolster them. Show me the ones which limit me from doing the things you have called me to do. Bust those down, turn them to rubble.

Amen.