I go to walk out the door, and nearly everyone in my family knows what I'll ask next..."Where's my keys?" Frantically I'll search high and low for them. They must be somewhere. I know I used them to get home yesterday, so they have got to be here...but where? The search usually goes on for the next five minutes, when they are usually found in plain sight. Now I am set to leave...I have my keys.
Sometimes when we leave our homes we may have our physical keys, but we seem to have left our spiritual ones behind. God --check, Convictions--check...and off we march into the world. We have it all together...or so it seems...but we don't even realize we're missing our keys.
Keys get us into places that are special and set apart, unique and not public. My house has locks because it is not a public place. Businesses have locks because in off-hours no one belongs there...unless you have a key. Even a house-sitter needs a key to water the plants while its owners are on vacation.
People, created in God's image, are sacred places...even if the owner doesn't realize it. Even God Himself does not barge in.
When we forget to practice Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
....it's like leaving the house without our keys.
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
....it's like leaving the house without our keys.
I admit...I have done this...and like forgetting my physical keys...I don't get very far. Sometimes I forget that without God's justice and kindness I would not be the same person I am today. Apart from His grace...there would I go too. These are they keys of getting to really know people- act justly, love kindness and walk humbly with our God. These give us access into their lives because we truly care. We can know all the truth in the world, but if we don't have love and humility, we just sound like a noisy clanging bell (1 Corinthians 13:1). No one will listen. We blame it on them, when the fault really lies in ourselves. Walking humbly would be a refreshing change of pace. It frees us to serve and love and make a difference in this world.
It is the missing key....Don't leave home without it :-)
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