The Key

Today after lunch I saw a man with about 100 keys hanging off his belt. I thought to myself why does this man need all those keys? Perhaps it makes him feel more important. After all a man with all those keys must have more authority because he has access to more rooms… right? But what if he has no clue as to what those keys unlock? Maybe he is saving a key on that ring from an old padlock that he lost twenty years ago in hopes that he will find it someday. Chances are if I went up to him and asked him if he knew what each key could unlock he would have no idea.

I have several keys on my ring, one to our place of residence, one for each car we have, one for the storage unit that we rent out and one to my parent’s house. I have another set of keys devoted for my job as well. I use all of these keys frequently (except for the one to my parents house) and as a matter of fact I use a majority of them every day. But what is the most important key to me? I would say the key to my residence because when I walk through that door I see my wife. In my future I also see kids and a cat, God willing. If I neglect to unlock that door I neglect to be with those that I love the most. Maybe instead of using that key I decide to stay longer at work or maybe I decide to go out with friends after work. The point is that those things need to be secondary in my life to my duty as a husband and someday a father.
As some of you know I work for a church and in that church there is a lot of work to be done. It can consume you if you let it. Throughout the church this is a common problem and it has swallowed ministers whole. The key to the church becomes more important then the key to the home. The family gets pushed aside and the minister becomes a workaholic. He sacrifices his family on the alter of ministry which is sad and tragic. In my own life as I start ministry I must be aware of this common mistake, I must guard the key to my residence and use it frequency. The key is to live a life of balance.