Hi, all. Just a thought to help you start your weekend.

Many folks remember the days when doors were never locked, be it on our homes, our vehicles, or our churches. Those days seem so long ago. For many of us, the every-night ritual of checking and rechecking all of the door locks has become so routine that we don’t even think about it anymore. It’s second nature to us to make sure that all things are locked down, locked up, and locked away before we turn our backs.

This particular lock you see here just happens to be on a very small rarely used chapel that sits off a not-so-busy road in an undisclosed rural location in west-central Alabama. As you can probably see, even though the lock is hung through the bracket hole, the lock itself isn’t even fastened. I have heard many times that locks aren’t really to keep anyone out. They’re basically to keep us in. Locks are for the honest folks, not the crooks.

Locks can certainly protect a person or a place from harm, but they can also keep a good person from experiencing something awesome and unique. For all a person has to do at this tiny chapel is to turn the lock, lift it from its latch, and walk right into the little building. In doing so, one can see the sunlight streaming through very old stained glass windows in an otherwise dark interior. If the lock wasn’t ignored and slipped from its perch, one would never experience the insides of that beautiful and peaceful place. Of course, I believe that’s the very reason the lock isn’t actually locked. It is merely to keep the ‘coons and other critters at bay.

As the Lord seeks to speak to you this week, I pray you’ll loosen that lock on your life, your thoughts, and, for some, the lock on your heart. Perhaps it’s not really true that you never wanted Him in, you’ve just never removed the lock and allowed Him complete access. Try it. Open up that rusty old lock and experience the glorious Light of the Sonshine in your life this week.

Just a thought. ’Til later.

 

Rev. Brad Campbell can be reached at mastah.pastah@yahoo.com.