Locked Out©

Cars. Don’t we just love to hate them sometimes? If you’re anything like I am, you have a vehicle with high miles that you’re trying to have carry you through another 100,000 or so. Maybe that’s a bit too hopeful but in these economic times we try and make a dollar go further and further. Along the way we may have to give up some luxuries. In the case of my car, it seems I’ve given up the luxury of working windows, a quiet ride and a working remote door lock/entry system which is attached to my keys. This later issue has led to the somewhat embarrassing situation of locking myself out of my car, sadly to say, on more than one occasion. It’s likely we’ve all been there at one time or another; peering through the window of our locked vehicle staring at the car keys in the ignition, on the seat, in the purse on the seat etc. We don’t know whether to laugh or cry, sometimes we do both.
I’ve also managed to lock myself out of my house several times. I remember once, just as we were leaving for vacation, I locked all of the windows, secured even the garage door which does not have an automatic door opener, packed the car and the kids only to realize the keys were in the house! How these things happen, I don’t know. I was forced to shove my daughter through a small octagonal window in our dining room that time to recover the keys. Such fond memories! I had to chuckle recently when a friend told me of her embarrassing dilemma when she put in a load of laundry to wash including the clothes she was wearing only to discover her bedroom door had locked behind her. Being a self-reliant person she removed the doorknob to no avail, looked for hinges which were on the inside and exhausted all means of unlocking thesituation. Her washer was in her apartment, so luckily a coat closet and her long raincoat were available to partially ‘cover’ her embarrassment. Still, she had to call the maintenance man and have him come to fix the problem. And so I chuckled, not at her situation, but at the fact that I had yet to find found myself in that predicament.

There are many places we can be locked out of. Cars, buildings, rooms, computers, events, clubs, and even hearts are ‘places’ from which we can be locked out of. Some of these situations are at least partly in our control, others are not. If we don’t bring the right credentials we can be locked out of certain venues or events. If we don’t have a membership we may be locked out of a particular club. If we’ve hurt someone and they aren’t forgiving we may be locked out of their heart and it may not be in our control to change that.

Sometimes being locked out can be a life or death situation. Critically ill or injured people behind locked doors can lose precious time when help from the outside world is locked out. But there is another life or death situation that involves being locked out that I’m most concerned with. There is a very special Kingdom that has a very specific requirement for entry and without it the doors are locked, impenetrable. In this case it isn’t who someone is or even what they’ve done or haven’t done that keeps them from having the proper credentials for entry. It is their belief or lack thereof as the case may be. Luke tells us of Jesus’ warning when He said “Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from'”. Luke 13: 24-25, NLT. The life I speak about is eternal life and it is a gift for all who believe in Jesus and are willing to take the time to know him and accept him as their savior. In this case, we can’t afford to wait until we’ve put a few more miles on these bodies before we decide to believe or not. No one is promised tomorrow. This isn’t some luxury item we can do without for a time. This is a matter of life and death. Membership to this Kingdom is in our control, the decision is ours, yet it is the submission of giving control to Jesus that will unlock the door to an everlasting life with the Savior. That is one place that I don’t want to be locked out of.

by Liz Hall