Compressing Boundaries

I’ve written about my accident in April. Since there are still problems with my leg, I’ve been told to wear compression hose. That has been a very good thing.

Without the hose, my ankle has a tendency to swell to at least twice its regular size. That allows the foot to swell, too, making my toes appear to be puffy appendages. That’s not a very good thing.

Tonight during our service a lay preacher made the comment that some think he is narrow minded. And, he said he was – as narrow as the Bible, as he held it up. That made me think of:

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 KJV)

And that made me think of my compression hose.

Can you make the same connection? The hose keeps my leg strait. It keeps the blood flow moving along in the correct pathway, which are so narrow minded that they can’t go willy-nilly through the body, but proceed in an orderly manner. Rather than allowing the fluid to collect in one spot, the hose provide boundaries for crowd control, again making that part of my body proceed in an orderly manner.

There are growth patterns within our bodies that must remain in narrow-minded ways. Uncontrolled growth with cells is often cancer. It cannot be allowed to grow unchecked. We hope that it can be removed in its entirety, returning our bodies to the strait and narrow way they must function for our survival.

I believe that the Bible provides that same comfort for our lives. Without the boundaries of its restrictions, I may not only damage my body, my life, but my eternal soul.

The compression hose provides me comfort and eases pain. Let me assure you, my Bible does that even better! How difficult can it be to live within two commandments – both filled with love:

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:36-40 KJV)

Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it. (Psalms 119:140 KJV)