Fence Breakers

Many people today cry out for justice when they ought to plead for mercy. They focus on wrongs done to them while ignoring the wrongs done by them. As the saying goes, “He who lies down with dogs rises with fleas.” If we break God’s laws, we eventually break ourselves. Solomon puts it plainly: “Whoso breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him” (Eccl. 10:8). In ancient Israel, hedge-fences sheltered snakes, so a man who broke through one at night to steal grazing would almost certainly be bitten. So it is with God’s law: every command we break carries a hidden judgment, a serpent waiting in the hedge. Today many are busy smashing God’s fences while remaining blind to the serpent of judgment striking them. “The wages of sin is death,” but the mercy of God still offers life.