Refusing the Keys – Harriett Ford
"Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering." (Luke 11: 52 NIV)
The scribes were symbolically admitted to their position by the delivery of a key. They were to enter into the treasures of the Word and bring forth things “new and old.” (Matthew 13: 52) They failed.
Jesus handed a fisherman, Peter, the keys to the kingdom, entrusting Him with the message that sets men free from the burden of the law of sin and death. (Matthew 16:19)\
There are keys of knowledge that bring marvelous blessings. (Psalm 103: 1-4) Sadly, many people never use them.
Say, you hand a starving man a key of knowledge that will open the gate to a garden filled with trees that provide a rich and satisfying banquet. He says, “No thank you. I’ve been taught this key won’t fit the lock. I’ll just accept hunger (illness, poverty, lack, bondage) as God’s will for my life.”
Or, maybe he hands it back and says, “I don’t trust your key. What do you know anyway? My locksmith told me this door doesn’t open and he’s always right. Look at how many starving people there are, this is God’s will.”
You want the best for him, but he refuses to accept the key.
Or maybe he decides, “Wait a minute. This guy looks like he’s enjoying plenty of good fruit from a good tree. Maybe his key will work. I think I’ll learn how to operate it, even though my lock seems pretty rusty.”
One should always at least unlock the gate and check out the fruit on the tree before deciding to chop it down.
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