Borderland
On the border of Rhode Island and Connecticut, some residents are living in uncertainty. New mapping technology has caused the uncertainty, which revealed the boundary should be further east, at some points by as much as 70 feet. The result of the new boundary, would move 12 residences, along with 22 acres of land from Rhode Island, to Connecticut. This is not a new situation, because over the years there have been many attempts to move the border. Those living in the borderland tell of an annual ritual by state highway workers of both states who move the state line marker. Workers from one state, move the marker, only to have workers from the other state move the marker back. Iva Crider who lives in this borderland, sums it up by saying, “The whole thing is ridiculous. I’ve lived in this house 60 years as a Rhode Islander, and now they’re saying I’m in Connecticut? How can you make a change in someone’s life like that?”
For the borderland residents, it is a difficult situation with Connecticut having sent them tax bills. If the new boundary actually places them in Connecticut, it will mean a longer distance to schools, also a greater distance for ambulances to reach them. But their problems are small compared to those who are living in a spiritual borderland. It is a land inhabited by sinners and the double minded. The double minded are being swept from one domain to another, back and forth, this way and that. It is more than a tax bill that they must pay for the “wages of sin is death.”
To be double minded spiritually is to miss out on the continual blessings of God. Yes, when they are walking in the land of the living, the promises of God are in full effect and beneficial to them. However, when their mind turns from Heaven, and toward the lusts of this world, and the flesh; they begin to reap those wages of sin. In the land of death, continued sin only results in a further downward spiral with every area of their lives experiencing additional decay.
Oh, to move from the borderland to the realm of the Kingdom of God, never to return to the pits of hell. To do so, you must resist the enemy. You must take up the Word of God, which is the “sword of the Spirit.” You must always pray and not faint, or give up, or give in (Luke 18:1). You must love what your Lord Jesus loves, which is the church, and not forsake the assembling with other believers (Hebrews 10:24-25). The gate, through which to leave the prison of the borderland, is 1 John 1:9. You must “confess your sins” and He will “forgive you” and “cleanse you from all unrighteousness.”
Isn’t it time to take care of the boundary problem? End your misery, and move into the land of the living, leaving the death and decay behind. Run don’t walk to the nearest exit, which is your Lord Jesus.
(To be double-minded spiritually is to miss out on the continual blessings of God. End your misery, and move into the land of the living, leaving the death and decay behind. Run don’t walk to the nearest exit which is your Lord Jesus.)