I have Three Keys
05/08/2012 14:20
When I venture out of my home, I carry three Keys in my bag. The first, my house key – a key I could not do without. I need to get in and out of the house, don’t I? And no, I don’t want to be locked out when I return home. Yes, I need my house key.
My second key is also important. It’s the key to my car. Having ventured late in life into the world of driving, I am sometimes filled with surprise as I look at this key. ‘Can I really drive a car?” I ask myself. I am still rather diffident about driving. Still very careful to drive with utmost care. But every now and then, (especially when I have an empty road), I really enjoy myself as I drive. At other times I have a sense of it being unreal. Me behind a steering wheel? Really? I think I’ve managed to surprise myself there!
My third key is also essential. It’s the key I use to get into the rooms at my volunteer job at my church. I am very careful with it; more so since my previous key vanished one day while I was at work. Now, I wear it around my neck when I am at CareLink. It’s been the right place for it – not easy to misplace and always at hand.
Yes, I have 3 keys which are very important to me. I would find it hard to live without them. I suppose it’s not impossible to live a life minus my three special keys. But losing them would make me very dependant on others. Whenever I left home or returned home, I’d have to ensure my husband or son was in to let me out or let me in. I’d need to take a bus or to use my legs to get to places. I’d have to ask others who work with me to open and close doors inside my workplace. A nuisance to them and rather problematic for me. Yes, I am very glad I have my three keys!
Those are my tangible keys!
I have three other keys in my life which are a little different to the ones I just mentioned. But they, like my metal keys are also a vital part of my life. Life would be very difficult without them. In actual fact, life as I know it would be impossible for me. Unlike the first three keys I mentioned, I couldn’t ask other people to open those doors for me.
What are these keys, you ask? Let me share with you.
The first of these keys is FAITH! What then is faith? What does it mean to have Faith? Faith for me has been born out of many things. First – it was born of understanding. God shone the light of the glory of the Gospel into my heart. And I was able to decipher (with the help of the Holy Spirit) what this “Good News” meant. I repented of my sin and was born into the family of God.
Now, my ongoing faith means that I am living a life based on the faith that began my journey with God. It means I believe what I read in the Bible. It means that I try to live out this belief, by following God in the best way I can through the help of His Holy Spirit who resides within me. At every season of my life, (be it one that flows beautifully like a gurgling stream or a tough season that feels like I am fighting lions in an African jungle), I grab onto this key and open many doors with it. It works - every time. Yes, I need my key of Faith not just occasionally but every single day. It has sometimes been used to open doors that had been stuck fast and impossible to open. What a gift it has been!
What of the second key? Ah! That key is one called HOPE! What is hope? Can you imagine a life without hope? A life without hope would be hard or even impossible, don’t you think? We all know the well known saying ‘Where there’s life, there is hope!’ Yes, hope keeps us going long after we have wanted to give up.
Some years ago, when I went through a very difficult patch in my life – all I could do was to cling onto God. I held fast onto hope. That hope was not disappointed. Several years later, I can shout out with confidence that God came through for me. He answered my prayers. He kept me sane through it all. He gave me a firmer ground to walk on. How glad I am that I clung onto this key called HOPE because it was worth it. I’m so glad that through His faithfulness my hope was realised. Yes, my key of hope is worth keeping and using time after time after time.
And now for the third key. That would of course be LOVE! The last key, but by no means the least. On the contrary, it is probably the most important key that I need in order to live life well.
Love makes the world go round, they say? Love is what keeps me going.
What is love? I believe that the best love of all is God’s love. A perfect love – an ‘Agape’ love – a selfless giving love, an unconditional love. I don’t believe that I could really understand the meaning of the word ‘love’ if not for the fact that God took the initiative in showing me this amazing love through Jesus.
1 John 3:1 tells us “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.” Don’t you love the word ‘lavished’? It gives me a beautiful picture of being surrounded by God’s amazing love. Love that is before me, behind me, on the side of me, inside me and out.
Yes, I have found this incredible love, (as have many others). Love that loves me ‘in spite of’ and not ‘because of’. His love will never let me go. His love gives me the impetus to love others. To see beyond their actions into their hearts. To live out His kingdom by the power of that love. The key of love is one that is indispensable for living life as I know it. I use it every day.
Which key do you need today to unlock life’s door?
Is it faith? Do you need faith that would guide you as you take your first steps into a season of change? A faith that knows that as you trust in God – He will make a way for you?
Or do you need to cling onto hope through a season of difficulty? Do you need hope’s key just to keep going through that dark tunnel you may be stumbling blindly in right now, trying desperately to get to the other side?
Or perhaps it is love you need? A love that will never let you down? A love that carries you? A love that is born in your heart that helps you to respond rather than react to the difficult people around you? A love that bears the winning tag for all eternity?
Today I hold out these keys to you. Faith, Hope and Love! God has given them to me so He could open life for me in amazing ways. I will guard my God given keys; I will use them – I will unlock doors with them to bring life and light and joy into my world.
