Marriage from A to Z

Don’t Write in The Margins!

     I know we live in a day where students are typing most of their assignments instead of writing.  Does anyone remember learning to write on notebook paper?  If so, you probably heard your teacher say, “Do not write in the margins!”  Some even went as far as taking points off of your paper if you crossed the red margin lines.  Well this week God has a message for us and its all about having margin in your life.  Do you have clear margin in your life or are you living outside of the margins?

     Margins on paper are boundaries that keep us from writing off of the page, they are usually red which is a color that means STOP!  The margins tell us where to start writing and where to end.   Some teachers would even use the margin as an area to write notes to the student.  I remember when I stayed within the margins, my work would look very neat and my teacher was pleased.

     So what do margins have to do with you today?  Well God wants you to have some margin in your life.  He wants you to have some boundaries, space where there will be no writing, no activities and no busyness.  There is something powerful about being still.  (I wrote about this a few weeks ago) The purpose of the margin is to stop and take time to give God your focus in worship and allow Him to get the glory and honor (John 16:14 and Exodus 9:13,16). There are gifts that God wants to bless us with but we must set aside time  (margin) to focus/worship the Lord. Recall His faithfulness, His protection, His mercy and How awesome He is.   There is none like Him in all the earth.

      When we have margin in our lives we will have time to pursue our dreams, think, pray, relax, meditate, process and grow.  Having margin helps us to develop a healthy relationship with God and with others. When we don’t have margin,  we don’t have time for our real priorities such as God our spouse, our children and other  important relationships.

     This week, I want to encourage you to take a look at your life.  Do you have margin in your life?  Are you setting aside time to stop and focus on God? He wants intimacy.  Will you draw closer to Him?  God wants to be your main focus, place Him in the center of your life.  In the book “Breathe” Priscilla Shirer states,  “Margin keeps us from marginalizing (minimizing) God.”

Until next week  . . .

Carolyn

p.s.  Another name for Margin is Sabbath.  Exodus 20:8 tells us to Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Throughout scripture, people who practiced having a Sabbath were blessed and those who did not brought harm to theirselves.