My yard helpers and I are putting the new fence around my garden in weekly installments. The old fencing was bent and broken, and I wanted easier access to my plants. The deliberate slowness of installing this fence, not a normal trait of mine, has left me with time to contemplate why I want the fence, what its purpose is, and how best to achieve those ends.

Fences generate emotions in me, probably in you as well, often conflicting emotions based on which side of the fence we are on and who is manning the gate. I’ll talk about the gate next week. This week I am wrestling with the fence itself.

Why do I need a fence? The answers seem obvious. I need a fence to protect my young plants from bunnies and ‘possums and my neighbor’s dog when she escapes her invisible fence. I need a fence to delineate where the mowers are supposed to mow and where they are not. I need a dedicated space where I can nourish the soil and protect the plants and give my seeds and saplings the best chance to thrive and bear fruit.

We need fences in our life as well if we are to bear spiritual fruit. We need those fences so we can dedicate certain parts of our day to God and God alone. Thirty minutes without the phone or computer or television to meditate on His Word and converse with Him in prayer. A small space that nourishes our soul and protects our faith and gives us the best chance to thrive and bear the Spirit’s fruit.

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. Mark 1:35.

Fences make good neighbors and we dream of the white picket one. Therapists tell us to develop boundaries for better personal mental health. Groups have fences that delineate membership, some invisible, some difficult to articulate. And at least one researcher has found that playgrounds without fences lead children to huddle around the adults, while playgrounds with fences encourage them to explore the entire space. Yet, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, and that is the problem with fences.

When I was a freshman in college I applied for an exclusive organization. To be accepted I went through two rounds of written essays and a weekend of personal interviews. They took fifteen freshmen from a large state university. During one interview I was questioned about my decision to join a sorority since they were so exclusive. Often one’s view of a fence depends on which side of it they are on.

We struggle as Christians with fences, specifically a fence around the kingdom of God. Some would build it so sturdy and small that few (if any) would be allowed in. Some believe there is no fence at all. Most believe the fence around the kingdom is of God is there, but disagree on its purpose, its porousness, and its permanence. We sometimes worry about which side of the fence we are on.

I can cite Bible verses to support almost any position on fences. You probably can too. These are the ones I keep returning to:

It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates, twelve angels. Its gates will never be shut by day – and there shall be no night there. Nothing unclean will enter it… but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Revelation 21:12, 25, 27.

A holy space, separated from evil by a high wall, with open gates.

While I am building my fence in my backyard for my garden to thrive, only God gets to determine the fence around His Kingdom. I can’t claim to tell you what it is, but I do encourage you to turn to God in prayer, to seek him out and find him, because if we are to enter, we need to know who is guarding the gate.

Love in Christ, Betsy