Purpose of a Fence

A middle school aged youngster lives a couple houses down from me. Except for the freestanding basketball hoop on the driveway, his yard seems void of childhood attractions. This young man is good at making baskets, but fairly often he misses the basket and ah shucks it just happens to land in the neighbor’s yard. To retrieve the ball he climbs over a four-foot chain link fence and once inside the neighbor’s yard he traverses the split rail fence as if he were a gymnast on a balance beam.  He jumps off the fence, picks up the ball, and retraces his steps back into his own driveway. This carnival act goes on all the while keeping a watchful eye out for adults in case he needs to pull out a prefabricated excuse. I found these antics funny until I realized adults do something similar.  How often do we throw our toys into forbidden territory just so we can retrieve them? “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed (James 1:13-14 NIV).”