A Locked Bedroom

I heard a wailing coming from somewhere down the hall of our home.  It sounded a bit like an ambulance starting its siren as it leaves on an emergency call.  A second later, I realized that this sound was coming from my two oldest (and youngest) sons' room.

I stepped out of my bedroom to see my wife standing at their bedroom door holding a pair of pants.  "Vince," she was saying, in a slightly strained voice.  "Go ahead and open the door so I can give you your pants.  We need to leave for church soon."

"Turn the key to the right," Anna said helpfully.

I will digress, just for a moment, to mention that our home has a bunch of old fashioned door knobs, locks, and keys.  Very neat, but often difficult for children to figure out.

"Elliot," Vince shrieked.  "Where's the key?"

"I don't know!"  Elliot wailed back.

"Well, look for the key," Elaine said.  "It has to be in there.  You locked the door from the inside."

"Elliot took it out of the lock and now we can't find it anywhere!"  Vince said.  Truly there was no joy in Whoville.

There is perhaps little more frustrating than listening to a seven and a nine year old looking for a key in their bedroom.  I know most husbands are pretty bad at finding things in plain sight.  Vince and Elliot are already there.

Eventually, I went out through another window and in through their window.  The key was in a corner of their room behind a closet door.

As a result of this episode, the key to Vince and Elliot's room has taken an extended, all expenses paid trip to the Caribbean.

It reminds me of the verse in Revelation chapter 3, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."  Jesus stands outside, knocking, waiting for us to open the door to Him -- waiting for us to respond.

Unlike my sons, there is no key that must be found before we open to Him.  It is simple enough to just open the door and allow Him to come in.  At the same time, we can find all sorts of reasons not to open that door -- maybe we believe our lives are too dirty to allow Him in, or we are just afraid that He will upset our status quo.

Regardless of our reasons for not allowing Him in, there is no decision that is more worthwhile to make.  Our lives will be changed for the good -- for an eternity -- if we only let Him come in.