by Rose Murdock

In the "olden days" they would have gatekeepers who sat at the entrance of a city.  These people would guard the city and keep those from entering who would bring harm.  But they weren’t just protecting against physical harm, they were protecting their manner of living.  More specifically, they were guarding what they held sacred—the commandments of God.

Nowadays, at least in America, we don’t have people standing guard at the entrance of a city, we use other means to protect ourselves physically.  But spiritually speaking, who ‘holds the keys’ to the things we hold sacred?  Those gems of truth God has shown us from the hard lessons we’ve learned?  The things that have taken us a lifetime to learn that we want to pass down to the next generation so they don’t have to spend their lifetime learning the same things?  The ‘rabbit trails’ of life we have uncovered that get us off track and become dead ends?

As the oldest generation in a family passes away there is a shifting that takes place.  It was the elders of the city who sat at the gate.  And the oldest generation today is the ‘Keeper of the keys.’  The oldest generation should seek from God both the wisdom and the passion to guard the family spiritually.  While the second generation will do more of the ‘enforcement’ of these truths as they raise their children because the way we keep those sacred things in our family is by guarding the hearts and minds of our little ones.  They are the doors.  They are the entrance way into our families.  And as the Keepers of the keys we want to be sure and share the lifetime of wisdom and insight we have learned with them.  We want to teach the ways of God to them, giving them the keys of life.

Of course the gatekeepers didn’t just guard the city, but they also welcomed newcomers.  One thing we don’t want to do is to label a fresh perspective on life as heresy.  The elders had enough discernment to know the difference between what would harm and what would refresh.  And when we set ourselves up as the judge then we stifle what God wants to do in our families.  We simply need to recognize the gifts and talents that He has placed in our young ones and encourage them to grow in those gifts.  While at the same time teaching them that there is a standard of truth that God has established and that they need to seek it out for themselves and embrace it.

The Keeper of the keys---those who guard the spiritual truths that God Himself has given to a family.  As we stand at the gate our little ones, our family’s future and our heritage will continue on as a foundation for our future family to build on.  And the truths discovered over the years will remain to guide and to bless them.