day 1223: Keys

You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life...

It seems so long ago that we went to work with keys in our pocket. We had one for the door into the building and then one for our office and maybe another for the storage room, or even the washroom.  Keys are a thing of the past and before long all offices, cars and homes will be without them and we won't even need them any longer.  But, I imagine that even generations from now we will still use the word "key" and consider that those who have the keys are the most important.  When I was a boy I told my Dad that I wanted to be the like the janitor at our school and have a big key ring with hundreds of keys on a ring that hung from my belt.  My Dad smiled and said to me, "No son, you want to be the person who only has one key on his key ring."  It was a great lesson and one I never forgot.  We should think about this in our business as well.  Our customers, partners and employees want to feel like they only have to have one key to access everything they need.  Consider how many keys we ask them to carry today and how hard or easy it is to open the doors that they desire to pass through?

We want the key to life and we are told what that key is in Deuteronomy.  To pursue any other key, we will only end up standing at a locked door of frustration and futility.  What keys are we carrying to work with us today?  The keys looking for power, fame, or prestige?  Let's leave those behind and instead carry only the key that is the one that unlocks love, grace, mercy and forgiveness!

Reference: Deuteronomy 30:20 (New Living Translation)  

day 532: Master Key

When I was a boy I saw a custodian at our school who had one of those huge key rings with what appeared to be a hundred or more keys attached hanging off of his belt. I said to my Father, "When I grow up, I want to have that many keys to carry too." My Father replied to me, "No son, when you grow up, you want to be the person who only has to carry one key." I was too young then to understand the message, but over the years, I learned that he was correct. When you are the person who only has to carry one key, that being the master key, then yes, that is what you want. When given the master key, every door is yours to open and to lock. The master key comes with responsibility and accountability and it is a privilege not a right. The master key is a great metaphor for leadership. Leaders open, shut and lock doors for others. They must learn to do so with wisdom, caring and grace. Decisions made are like doors opened or locked. Decisions unmade are like doors that are left open but must be shut. Having the master key is a big responsibility. Fortunately for us, as we bring God to work with us today, we have with us the One who carries the true master key. In Revelation 3:7 we read, "He is the one who has the key of David. He opens doors, and no one can shut them; he shuts doors, and no one can open them." Today as we walk through the doors of our offices, let's be reminded that those doors that are open and shut for us in our careers are because He wants them open or shut for us. Let's pray to Him for the continued guidance and wisdom for the opening and shutting of the doors that are within our own control. Let's also remember that we have been entrusted with our own set of master keys that affect and influence others and may we each use and wield those keys wisely and for His purpose.

Reference: Revelation 3:7 (New Living Testament)