The Right Key!

“I will give you the keys to the kingdom from heaven. Whatever you prohibit on earth will have been prohibited in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will have been permitted in heaven,” (Matthew 16:19, ISV).

The other day I went to my mother’s house, and when I put the key in the door, it didn’t open. When I inspected the key, I realized it was the key to my client’s house instead. It looked the same, fit into the lock the same, but it didn’t unlock the door the same. Then it hit me: I had the wrong key to the wrong house!

What really made no sense to me was the fact that the key actually fit perfectly into the keyhole without effort. But it wouldn’t turn the lock. Isn’t that how life is sometimes? We think we have the right tools, but they don’t work because they are not appropriate for the job.

I thought of the key as a metaphor for life. And then I remembered God has given us the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. I also remembered that we rarely use them to unlock the right doors. The primary reason the keys don’t work is a lack of faith. No key can be used without faith. It’s the true key and everything else is the lock.

The second reason the keys don’t work is because we don’t use them in tangent with our authority in the name of Jesus. We have the King's authority and the King's keys, but sometimes we lack the King's wisdom and faith. This is the reason we sometimes struggle to overcome the issues of life. We just don’t understand what to do. This is where the Word of God comes in. It’s a vital necessity to unlocking any door on earth and in heaven. Or closing any door on earth and in heaven. God said, he will honor his Word, which is our key of faith, coupled with his authority in the name of Jesus.

As a child of God, a believer, and a born-again Christian, God has given us the King's authority! All we have to do now is use it! Living in the United States, a democracy, we rarely understand how a kingdom works. But everyone who is part of a kingdom understands the king's authority. In biblical times, the king would issue a signet ring to his commanding officers, giving them full authority to use his authority in the king's name. I enjoy knowing that we have our Father’s authority as his sons/daughters, and the ability to use it when appropriate in Jesus’ name. Like Jesus, “We can lay hands on the sick and they shall recover…” (See Matthew 10:8, Luke 4:40 & Luke 4:18)

Wow! What a wonderful gift of faith! Guess what, faith works both ways, because God gave us the gift by his faith in us, hoping that we would use it the way he commanded it to be used. I think we owe it to God to be obedient to his will and to his generosity by asserting his authority in the King's (Jesus') name.

Prayer:

Father, thank you for giving us the keys to life. Please lead us into the proper use of them. And help us develop the faith that will position us to walk in the King's authority. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen!