Walking A Christian Path by Graham Pockett - HTML preview

The Key To Heaven
– an analogy about publicly committing ourselves to God –

When people commit their lives to Jesus and repent of their sins they are given ‘The Key to Heaven’. However, you can own the key to a house but, if you are outside and the door is locked, you cannot gain entry unless you have that key with you. So it is with Heaven.

We must have ‘The Key to Heaven’ with us when we die or we don’t get in – it unlocks the Gate for us. Some people think that because they are saved they will go to Heaven anyway (doesn’t the Bible say that?) and they go back to their sinful lives. The ‘Key’ is not being carried with them and therefore they cannot gain entry into Heaven when they die.

Others carry the ‘Key’ in their pocket – with them, but out of sight. These people are often called ‘Sunday Christians’. They are still saved, and will still get into Heaven, but are more likely to put ‘The Key’ down, and therefore not have it when they die.

The third group are the committed Christians who proudly hang the ‘Key’ around their neck for the world to see. These people are more aware of their commitment, and therefore less likely to put down the ‘Key’. They would normally have the ‘Key’ on them when they die.

As soon as we receive the ‘Key’, Satan tries to turn us away from God and back onto his path to death. He does this with subtle comments like: “it’s a large key and would be most uncomfortable to hang around your neck or put in your pocket – now that you know you are saved why don’t you just leave it somewhere handy so that when you die you can make sure that you have it”. Satan always tries to get people to move the ‘Key’ from their necks to their pockets, and then out of their pockets and off their persons altogether. Of course, we don’t know the day nor the hour when we will die so, if we listen to Satan, we are most unlikely to have the ‘Key’ on us at that time.

You can put the ‘Key’ down (backslide) and then pick it up later (repent) but, unless you do that before you die, you will not be saved and will not spend eternity in Heaven. The only problem is in the timing – do you know when you are going to die? If you died today, do you know where you would go?

Please, commit your life to Jesus, and hang ‘The Key to Heaven’ proudly around your neck...