Shiny Gates

01/27/11   Shiny Gates

The calendar on my wall has a picture “Weathered Reminiscence” showing a winter scene of weathered and obviously abandoned old barn.  But what strikes me as interesting in this photo is the fence surrounding this property seems well taken care of and the gates are even shiny.

Isn’t that the way we live our lives?  We put up these shiny gates to keep people out of those areas of our life that may not have been taken care of or kept up.  We try to put on false fronts so people will think better of us.  Why do we do that?  Are we really fooling anyone?  Probably not.  Well, maybe we’re fooling ourselves.

In Luke 18, Jesus tells the story of two men who came to church at the same time.  One is a very influential person, the other runs that bookstore down the street, with the XXX’s in the window, the one “good people” don’t go to.  The first man puts on a show – but the only thing showing is his shiny gate.  He reminds God (but he speaks loud enough for others to hear) of all the things he does and how shiny life is.  He is not about to show the ugly old barn of sin in his life.  The second man is just the opposite and can only say, “God, I’ve blown it”.  No shiny gates, no hiding the weathered, un-kept areas of his life.

And Jesus said, it was the second man that impressed God.

“But Dave,” you may say.  “The gates in the picture are not to keep things out, but rather there to keep things in.”  That may be true.  However, a gate is still a gate.  And by trying to keep things in are we trying to keep things always the way they once were at least in our mind?  Either way, there’s something wrong with these shiny gates.  And the problem is they keep me from getting closer to God.

I can tell you that I’ve put up my share of shiny gates and fences trying to impress.  But I’ll also tell you that I’m tired of trying to keep the fences and gates of life in good shiny shape, while life inside the fence is not taken care of. 

Will you join me in this?  Will you examine your life to see if you too are putting up fences so the ugly barn of sin remains untouched?  Let’s not try to impress God or others with our list of all the things we do and instead trust God for what He has done through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Let’s take down some of those gates and fences and let’s not keep him and others out of certain areas of our life.  Let’s make an effort to be who we really are… no fences, no shiny gates, just old weathered abandoned barns in need of a touch of restoration.