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An Acre, A Place


If you had an acre that was all yours, what would it look like? 
If you could have anything on this acre, what would be there?
Maybe this figurative plot of land that is all yours isn't an acre at all. Perhaps, it is more widespread...

When I was recently challenged to consider my own 'acre', a figurative place that is completely mine, I was very surprised with the immediate imagination. My mind quickly unfolded a place I had never seen before, but I had known all my life.

My land was on a hilltop with a large, mature tree on my left and a vast view before me. Mountains were in the distance, and I could see for miles and miles. There was a slight breeze though I am not sure what season this land of mine is currently in. Everything was luscious and green and thriving. Water appears a short distance away on the right side of me...

After discovering what this land looked like, I was asked to consider a few questions:
What describes my acre? 
What feelings do I have when I am there?
Are there feelings I wish I had there that I don't?
Are others allowed on my land? 
What grows on my land?
What grows on my land that I don't want there? 
What on my land do I enjoy that I should grow more of?
What is on my land that I don't want there?

Wow. This self growth exercise just got personal!! 

...My acre is a place of peace and rest. A place of joy - where others are most definitely welcome. Interestingly, my land had no real barriers. There wasn't a fence. There was no division in the endless landscape (unless you count the mountains in the distance and maybe the water). While a lack of division is great for a feeling of openness... it would not help much if something showed up on my land I didn't want there.

How often do we live our lives seeking all the things we believe to be good in order to have these great feelings of accomplishment and success and be exactly what we want only to discover we left a necessity out? God gave us boundaries for a reason. Consider His separating light and darkness. That boundary is a very real thing. The day and the night don't run together... I'm thankful for a night of rest after a full day.

God created the idea of rest. Then, he enveloped it in His creation AND He himself rested. How do we so often miss that in our lives?

My land is a place of openness and rest. A place of peace and rest. A place of joy and... you guessed it - rest.

What is your acre a place of?

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