Do not move the ancient landmark that your father have set. Proverbs 22:28 ESV
Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless. 
Proverbs 23:10 ESV

In my recent daily Bible reading, I became intrigued with how Solomon talks of ancient landmarks in subsequent chapters. Now the phrase “ancient landmark” used here isn’t the kind of landmark we think of, such as Mount Rushmore or the Statue of Liberty. These landmarks were the ancient boundary lines spoken of in the book of Deuteronomy, which designated the inheritance of each tribe, family and individual. These boundaries were not self-imposed ones decided on by people. Instead, these were the hills and valleys, streams and wilderness areas chosen by God and given to them. Think of the stone walls, which Robert Frost spoke of in his poem, “Mending Wall” where he tells us.

“Good fences make good neighbors.”

Today, we often fear barriers of any kind, considering them to be restrictions, preventing us from experiencing or having something better. These ancient fences which God has placed between us, are given not to divide us, but rather to assign us each a responsibility. And in these two verses in Proverbs Solomon warns us of two opposite errors. Today we are focusing on the first: not trading away our own ancient landmark. We are not to give away, what God has chosen for us, though it may seem right and good and profitable in the moment, as in did for the prodigal, when he headed for a far-off city. The life God had chosen for us is best and no amount of gain, excitement or prestige can better His eternal plan. God has set boundary lines to protect, not restrict us, and our contentment comes when we accept those limits, plant our own gardens, and dig our own wells. If we will just trust the limits God has set, the time will come for an abundant harvest, when God’s blessings overflow so much, that we will have more than enough for our family and then an abundance to share with others!