Gracepoint Church, Peabody
I love traveling to the Mayberry Sheriff’s Office. The adventures of Sheriff Andy Taylor and Deputy Barney Fife provide laughs for everyone in my house. There’s something unique about the sheriff’s office however: on the wall between the two jail cells hangs the key to the cell door. When Otis’s sentence is over, and it is time for him to go home, he just reaches out of the cell, plucks the key off the hook, and unlocks the door!
On a more serious — and eternal — scale, this time of year reminds us that we were in a far worse prison. And a friendly hometown sheriff and his well-meaning deputy don’t run this place of detention, a holy God does. And our sentence is eternal condemnation. There is no denying the charges, because we are as guilty as sin.
Then a nail is driven in the wall that separates us from God, and Jesus hangs the key to our cell within reach. When we reach out by faith, accept the forgiveness offered by Him, we can be freed.
Jesus said, “… I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:18).
Have you used the key?