Walls
By Doug Bing, Washington Conference president
There are some famous walls in the world.
Most, if not all, have heard of the Great Wall of China, built over many miles to help guard against raiding bands of people and to protect the country. There is the Berlin Wall, erected not to protect from the outside, but primarily to keep people in the city and away from the Western world. The Berlin wall is now dismantled, and the Great Wall of China is merely a tourist destination.
Some walls feel sinister and foreboding while some will look at those same walls with satisfaction.
Consider the walls that are built around prisons. If you are on the inside serving a long, or even short sentence, you may think of those walls as foreboding. If you are on the outside of the walls, you may feel satisfied that you are safe from the people inside who have committed a crime. The walls are the same. The view is different.
God writes about walls in the book of Isaiah.
There is a famous text (that many only quote the first part) that says:
See I have inscribed you on the palm of My hands: Your walls are continually before me.
We love the first part and quote it often. The second part is equally meaningful. The walls He is talking about are for protection. They are not prison walls. They are there for protection. The new testament speaks of submitting to God and seeing the devil flee (James 4:7).
As we submit each day, the walls around us keep us safe from the evil one. Yes, bad things happen to good people. Spiritual protection, however, never needs to be in doubt. Isaiah 56:5 states,
Even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters: I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
God gives us a name that is better than the name our parents gave us. It is an everlasting name that comes with His promise and protection.
Some look at the walls of Christianity and see only rules. They look at the wrong thing. Looking at Christ and the walls all make sense as they keep you spiritually safe. Live within the walls of safety and assurance that you are part of the family of God.
Like the gospel song goes,
I am so glad I am part of the family of God. I have been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood! Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod, for I’m part of the family, the family of God.
I am glad for the wall of protection in God’s family. How about you?