“And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven” (Matthew 16:19 NLT).
Keys are significant items. They imply possession or ownership of whatever the lock they open is attached to. We have keys to our cars, our homes, businesses, lockers, desks, etc. We lock those things we prize and desire to keep protected and safe. We also lock away those things we don’t want to escape or become lost. Many of us seem weighed down with all the keys we carry. The Lord recently showed me various keys that fit a multitude of locks attached to different things. I saw door locks, padlocks, car ignitions, file and desk drawer locks. I saw keys to everything that has a lock.
I hear the Lord speaking about these keys and locks. It is true, there are doors He shuts that we cannot open again, and there are doors that He opens which we are unable to close; however, there are also doors and locks for which He has given us the keys to either open or shut. The choice is ours.
The plans He has for us affords us autonomy called “free will”. He always desires for us to continue to move onward and upward, enjoying the journey as we go. He has given us the keys to the vehicle. Whether or not we put them in the ignition is our choice.
We have been given the keys to advance the Kingdom and He has placed doors in front of us. Each door has a key, are we going to be courageous enough to put the key in the lock, or walk away because there’s no window in the door to see what’s on the other side. There will be doors to unknown areas, but because we have the keys, we have all we need to boldly walk through them.
There are padlocks on areas of our lives which bring bondage. God has also given us the keys to unlock the shackle. We must not remain comfortable where we are, we’ve established that God always wants us moving onward and upward. Shackles keep us bound to one place. Unlock that one right quick!
The files of our past are locked away, some of us keep that key so that we can shuffle through the files and reminisce on what once was. We also get stuck there. God does not want us stuck on our pasts, our past is dead. When we accepted His love for us and the salvation offered, our old man was dead. We do not need to open the file cabinets of our pasts and resurrect the old man, nor do we need to continue to unlock the file cabinets of others to keep them bound in their pasts. This is a key that needs to be tossed away.
God has done His part in providing us with the keys, let us do our part and put them to use.
Shalom 🙂