Hold on to the Keys to the Kingdom
Few things rankle me more than losing my keys, and unfortunately I do it more often than I would like to admit.
You know how it goes, right? You come into the house from the garage with your hands full of groceries or some other item, and you set your keys in a place you wouldn’t ordinarily do so. The real problem is that you do it without thinking, so you can’t remember where you put them.
I’ve put my keys in a number of unusual places, including the kitchen cupboard, the washing machine, and the refrigerator. I search for 10, 15, 20, even 30 minutes before I either stumble upon them, or it dawns on me where I put them.
How frustrating! If only I had taken my time and carefully placed the keys in a safe and secure spot where I would be able to find them the next time I needed them.
Car keys, house keys, office keys, safe keys are vital to our existence, so why am I so careless with them?
Of course the same could be said for my spiritual life. I know who holds the key. I know where to find they keys, but to be honest, I’m not always as careful with them as I should be.
We need look no further than the Gospel of Matthew to remind us how important our spiritual keys are. Just after Peter proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah, Son of the Living God, Jesus responded by saying, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 1 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Clearly, Peter was the chosen one on which the church of Jesus Christ would be built. He essentially gave Peter the keys to the kingdom, rewarding his faithfulness and forgiving his many human blunders.
Surely, Jesus would give the keys to the kingdom to us, would he? Well, maybe he would. Maybe he already has. We are called to go out and make disciples of all humankind. Peter provided the spark, but we can also carry the torch, but reaching out into our neighborhoods and informing others that they keys to the kingdom of heaven
are in their hands. All they need to do is accept and embrace them.
These keys are vital to our spiritual life in this world and absolutely essential to our salvation in the world to come. These are keys that we definitely don’t want to misplace, much less lose. We must be careful and vigilant with the key. We must not allow the temptations of this world to loosen them from our grip.
As we prepare to celebrate the dawning of a new year, let us be sure to have the keys close at hand so that you will have access to the Kingdom of Heaven and so that you can serve as a guide for others seeking, but unsure of their final destination.
Until We Meet Again, Be Blessed! – Pastor John