Saturday, 2 March 2013

Gate Keepers


" Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house".  Matthew 12: 29.


Gate- Keepers  also known as Watchmen , Sentinel, Sentry or Guards are usually  security personnel who are employed and are authorised  to "man" gates by  basically , ensuring that  nothing evil or uninvited enters through the gates and that  nothing  valuable leaves the gated compound.

Gate Keepers are , usually , not  the property owners ; but  they  do the owners' bidding.
 For the  purpose of this  blog , I refer  to owners  also as "Gate Keepers ".
Gate Keepers are expected  to be  strong and alert enough  to  see  off  all attacks at the gates; as such , they  are required  to have had not only adequate security training  but they  must  possess both the experience and the physical  strength to  be combat-ready, day  and  night .
Employing frail  , unhealthy  and ill-trained gate keepers who  sleep  on duty ,  is akin  to leaving one's gates wide  open.
Before any locked gate can be accessed , the gate-keeper (s)  must give  the permission  for entrance or they must  be over-powered by  stronger or more powerful attackers.
"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.  But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils". Luke 11 :21-22.


Walls  or fences are barriers put in place to send a clear message that whatever are behind the walls are valuable and worth  securing ; as such , they are "off limits"  to all intruders and trespassers.
 Walls are built in different shapes ; either round , square , rectangular , triangular .hexagonal , etc. Whatever their  shapes ,  in order to  become  effective  security  fixtures , all walls and fences  around a structure must converge at a point where they are  linked  together by a gate which is the  point of entry or  point of exit  from  any walled-in spaces.
If a walled compound has no gates , even the tallest and most fortified walls are incomplete projects because the walls without  a gate are not fit for the purpose for
which they were built.
The project would be seen as either the idea conceived  by a joker or viewed as an abandoned building project . 
To be of  any  effect , gates must not be left opened . Even when  gates are locked , if  not monitored by alert  gate - keepers, the security of  the walled compound could  be breached by  determined intruders .
Gates are  therefore not  just vital structures ; they are also places of battle where power changes hands  and they are points where destinies are determined .

Everything we have  been blessed with, our worldly goods,  have been given  to  us to watch over them as their custodians and as gate-keepers.
Our "worldly goods" include our lives  , our faith ,  our ministries , families, marriages ,  relationships, homes , properties , jobs , businesses ; or whatever  gives us happiness and a sense of well-being.
Every thing good would  be a target  for evil people. 
"The wicked watches the righteous,
And seeks to slay him ". Matthew 37 : 32.

As ordained gate-keepers , we have on our side divine power , which is greater than any power coming to attempt to  disrupt our peace and spoil our goods .
Our success or failure  to defend our gates would  be  determined  by  our level of  trust in  God who is the Source of all power.
Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Psalm 127: 1.
 Keep your goods and your gates secured ; you will be expected  to give account of your gate-keeping .
Sleeping on duty  is regarded as a serious dereliction of  duty . This  would bring  unpleasant consequences not only  to the sleepers  but  to all that is dear  to them.
- Watch and pray over the gates your God-ordained visions - Habakkuk 2:1-3.
Guard the gates of your lives- watch  and pray  against all dangers ; you have one life , don't tempt God. Matthew 4:5-7.
Keep your hearts with diligence - Proverbs  4: 23.
As gate -keepers , we should not only  watch and pray to prevent evil form entering ; we  must also be discerning enough to detect , round up and throw out all evils caused  by toxic relationships which  have succeeded in entering  through our gates during our  moments of ignorance and slumber.
Close friends , lovers , spouses , neighbours and  family members  who have  been exposed as our "secret enemies within ";  those who have shown themselves to be  destructive agents to our lives and properties and who have refused to change their ways , should not  be allowed to enter or to remain within our walls .
Christians , as  gate-keepers , we are watch men and women who are expected  to watch and pray over the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
As gate keepers over our churches, our  families, our nations , cities  and immediate  communities., God will hold us responsible for things going wrong on our watch.
" Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour[a] your Lord is coming. 
43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect ". Matthew 24: 42-44.



* This blog "Gate Keepers " is an excerpt from  my  book "Stone and Ashes "

No comments:

Post a Comment