Over the years I become very concerned with
making sure the church doors are locked. You might think church buildings are crime
free and undisturbed but this just isn’t the case. At every work I been at (with the exception of
Hope) I had my office at the church building robbed without someone “breaking
in”. Even when the situation didn’t involve
theft, I had many other strange encounters that involved someone being in the building
when they shouldn’t have been. It has
made me well aware of checking to make sure things are secure after we use the
facilities. I know at one place it was
almost a grantee if I didn’t check the doors after a funeral or event, I would
be dealing with someone coming in unawares.
It wasn’t that we didn’t want people at the building; we just wanted to
know who was there and why they were there. The insecurity of the unlocked door came from
the folks who were only there for nefarious purposes.
It has made me reflect of the description
of heaven found in Revelation 21. In
verse 25 it tells us that “its gates will never be closed”. Closing the gate is akin to locking a door. It is to keep out those that don’t belong;
those that are attempting to steal and destroy.
In heaven you won’t have to lock the doors. Why?
In Revelation 21:27 we see the answer:
and nothing unclean, and no one who practices
abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are
written in the Lamb's book of life.
No one who is not supposed to be there will
be there. You won’t live in worry about
the other guy and what he might be doing.
The only people there will be God’s people.
Revelation 22:14-15
Blessed are those who wash their robes, so
that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates
into the city. Outside are the dogs
and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters,
and everyone who loves and practices lying.
We often use the phrase “You don’t have to
lock your doors” for a community that feels safe and secure. Heaven will be the ultimate place of safety
and security. There will be no worries
about the thief, the murder, the con man working coming in a ruing the safe
haven. Only the peace that comes in when
sin in kept away!
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