There
I remember growing up and the boundaries that my parents set were firm but loving. Like all kids, my brother and I pushed the boundaries, sometimes to extreme.
God sets boundaries as a loving Father. He says, “… ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’” Jeremiah 7:23
God expects us to grow up, be responsible, keep our mind and heart fixed on Him, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,” 1 Peter 1:14
King Manasseh, “did so much evil in the sight of the Lord provoking him to anger. And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen. 2 Chronicles 33:6, 10
“Therefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon.” Sometimes it takes a strong hand to turn us around.
“Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.” 2