One of my simple life objectives is to carry as few keys as possible. I carry my car key and on a separate key ring I carry the keys to my house, office, and mailbox. When I was a kid I wanted my own set of keys. After my persistent persuasion, my father rounded up some old keys and put them on a key ring and gave them to me. I recall feeling important as I carried those keys around, acting just like my dad. The only problem was that none of the keys I carried fit any locks. They didn’t start cars or unlock my house or anyone’s office. They were keys, but they didn’t matter.
Sometimes I think that we live life pursuing keys that really don’t mean anything. We claw, scratch and dig to get keys to cars, recreational vehicles, homes, businesses and safe deposit boxes. Those are the keys we tend to value, but in the end are they really keys that matter?
In John’s vision of Jesus described in Revelation chapter 1, he observed this about Christ:
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave (Revelation 1:17-18, NLT).
Jesus held in his hand the keys to death and the grave. These keys, like our keys, represent access and authority. The big difference between Jesus’ keys and our keys is that his keys fit the locks of eternally significant things…things that really matter. When I studied this passage last week I was reminded that life is filled with endless pursuits of pleasures and possessions that won’t matter 1,000 years from now. We only find fulfillment when we pursue that which is eternally significant.
