December 20 Jesus is Key of David: Isaiah 22:22

Jesus is the Key of David. According to today's passage, what Jesus locks stays locked and what Jesus unlocks stays unlocked. At first, thought today's symbol was pretty straight forward until I started to really think about it. I tried to think about the things that Jesus would lock forever and unlock forever and it kind of alluded me. I guess on a big scale, He holds the keys to heaven and has forever unlocked the gates so that through Him, we can enter. But what has He locked that cannot be unlocked?

I think that Jesus holds the key to our hearts. We sometimes lock that door, but He can unlock it. He can open doors that seemed to us to be shut forever. Sometimes, maybe He closes doors on things that aren't good for us and if we trust Him, we never try to open that door again. Maybe that's what this means.

Imagine walking down a long hall with Jesus and you come to a door. He unlocks the door and allows you to enter. During your stay behind the door, you may develop relationships and have experiences that make an indelible mark on your life. Some good, some bad. Maybe that's where the locking part comes in. As we surrender our lives to Christ, we give Him the ability to lock away things that we no longer want or need in our lives. I look back at the many lives I've encountered throughout my lifetime and realize that although there were some that remain with me always, there are others that I have locked out forever. Toxic relationships that did nothing but cause me grief or encourage me to fail - those are forever locked out of my life. But the only way to get away from that poison was to ask Jesus to lock that door. Once I've surrendered that to Him, I realized that I never have to look back. I never have to go back through that door.

On the other hand, there have been many doors that seemed closed to me. I never thought I would be able to solve a problem or accomplish a goal, but once I remembered that Jesus was the one holding the key, I'd find that the door would swing wide open. I think that is the point of this.

When I read the passage last night, I was immediately reminded of the verse in Matthew where Jesus gives the keys of heaven to Peter and informs him that all he binds on earth will be bound in heaven and all he loosed on earth would be loosed in heaven. That key can open and close, bind and loose.

We all have bad things happen in our lives. We all make mistakes we wish we hadn't. We all do or think things of which we are not proud. As children of God, we can ask Jesus to bind those things up. To lock them away. We also have things that we have bound up inside of us. We may be withholding forgiveness or love. We can ask Jesus to unlock that and allow those things to gush forth. Jesus is the key.

My prayer is that Jesus will lock away all the things in my life that do not lead the way to Him and that He will unlock all of the love, compassion and forgiveness I may be holding in my heart.