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Oct 26, 2023 06:00am

Fence Sittin’

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“You shall have no other gods before Me or besides Me.”
Deuteronomy 5:7 (AMP)

Fence-sittin’…I’ve done a little. As a youngster in rural Arkansas, pretending was a frequent occurrence. Atop the posts of the ole barbed wire fence that served as our property line, I could perch and imagine all sorts of make-believe happenings. (This was ages before digital screens replaced mud pies and barn cats.) Our fence enclosed an elder (menacing to me) cow in the tall weeds beside our rock home. Honestly, I’m not sure that geriatric jersey ever got to a standing position in all the years I lived there…but you can’t trust bovines when you’re six and alone. Humans ain’t too different. Even imagined fear can be debilitating.

Fence-sittin’ assumes a gearless, neutral position. It’s not left or right, much less liberal or conservative. It can be helpful in moving a vehicle, but not the best look for a Christ-follower in our society. We all have an active part to play in making a cultural reset (spiritually) a reality. Believers, we must get off our neutral perches and share The Good News as hope givers! Ask any flattened squirrel on the road of life if decisions matter. Ask the rich young ruler. His “fence-sittin’” cost him eternally. He couldn’t release the grip on his earthly treasures. Deception entices, but it’s a cruel and evil playbook. Everyone loses.

Our choices matter. Speaking up may take some courage, but we don’t get to opt out. Dorothy Bernard states, “Courage is fear that has said its prayers.” Get into conversations and off fences, Believers! We are on an earthly mission to serve the purposes of God! Be honest. Are we standing and speaking or straddling fences most days? Is fear or intimidation silencing us? How tight are our earthly grips?
Jesus chose you and me. It wasn’t convenient, tidy, or without sacrifice. Love never is. True love responds. Not the “look at us” Instagram kind, but the spot cleaning the carpet when the toddler throws up version. God’s fierce love pursues and transforms us. Long before He chose the nails, He chose us. Christ did not die for us to be spiritually stuck in neutral.

“Despite popular opinion, there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell.” (Toby Mac) We get to decide every day what His story will be in us…temporal, spotty, focused, or eternal? Others or ourselves? Convenience or Sacrifice? Approval or Surrender? Take a humble yet confident stand in Him. Get off the fence! Secure your eternal destination and earthly abundant life by posturing under Kingdom principles. Stay off fences and Come Follow Him. Fewer splinters guaranteed.