Gatekeeper

Revelation 17:14 (ESV)

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.

The Great Wall of China is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It stretches over 4,000 miles and was built to protect China from the barbaric hordes to the north. The designers of the wall made it so high that it could not be scaled, so thick that it could not be penetrated, and so long that no one could go around it.

Yet, during the first hundred years of the wall's existence China was successfully invaded three times, without the wall having been climbed or breached. So how, you ask, did the invaders raid China? Well, the problem wasn't the wall – it was the gatekeepers! In each of these invasions the barbarians simply bribed the gatekeepers who opened the gates, so the enemies just walked right through.

The protection of the Great Wall of China was only as secure as its gatekeepers. What a lesson, since, don't we all also have "gates to keep"...our eyes, and our ears, and our mouth? No matter how strong we may feel, we can never forget that these points of entry will be seen by our enemies and there will be attempts to bribe or seduce us so they can break through. We must not allow the "barbaric hordes" to invade our lives by failing to keep careful watch at these entry points –our integrity and our authority depend on the security of our gates!

Dear Lord, help us be the gate keeper that we need to be. Help us guard our life from the things that would tear us down. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.