Limits

The speed limit in our area is 35 miles per hour. The main road near our home is a speed trap where policemen catch drivers going over that limit almost every day. It’s hard to control the speed of a vehicle designed to be able to go 100 miles an hour. Our minds wander and we have trouble staying within the boundaries set.

Some limits are set by God. Some by humans. When God created the universe, he designed planets to stay in their orbits, animals to reproduce within their species. He designed a man and a woman to live together, but be different in their roles.

It was God, not man, who set boundaries for the vast oceans. When God was questioning Job, he asked, “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it … when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt?’ “ (Job 38:8-11, NIV).

I can only see so far. A telescope or a microscope can increase my limits. But the Creator’s sight is limitless. He sees everything everywhere. My hearing is limited. A hearing aid may increase that limit. There are devices that enable a person to hear things from miles away. With the launching of satellites that limit has been stretched further and further. Do we even think about that anymore when we listen to the radio?

Humans have been on a quest for generations to find ways to prolong life. We’re not satisfied with what has become the normal limit: 70 or 80 years. But aren’t we missing something? Isn’t it God’s plan for us to leave the limits of earthly years behind in exchange for eternal life beyond time? “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” That’s the simple truth found in John 3:16 (NKJV).

This presently limited body will be replaced by a new one with enhanced ability to stay healthy and walk through walls like Jesus did after His resurrection. There may still be some limits, but they will be radically changed. God will still be God. We will always be human, by His design. There will always be a distinction between God, angels, and human beings. I don’t understand how the great I AM has always existed, but maybe my mind won’t be so limited in understanding when I am with Him in heaven.

Remember this old song? “His love has no limits, His grace has no measure, His power has no boundary known unto men. For out of His infinite riches in Jesus He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again” (He Giveth More Grace, Annie J. Flint). Aren’t you grateful?