Morning Devotional
July 18, 2004
"The Key to Renewal"
by Don Emmitte

So Solomon finished building the Temple of the LORD, as well as the royal palace. He completed everything he had planned to do. Then one night the LORD appeared to Solomon and said, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this Temple as the place for making sacrifices. At times I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or I might command locusts to devour your crops, or I might send plagues among you. Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.  (2 Chronicles 7:11-14 NLT).

 

I know you join with me in saying that this is one of the greatest verses ever written. We share it often as a call to prayer, a call to repentance, a wake-up call for God's people to seek Him. In it we may find the key to renewal, both individually and corporately. We talk about how the people of God, in order to see His hand at work, must humbly call on Him so that He will respond to our needs. This verse remains as true and useful as ever, but a friend of mine shared with me recently an illustration for this verse that I believe helps to put it into perspective.

 

Imagine for a minute that there is a big key. This key opens Heavens door and dispenses all of Heavens angels to minister to your needs. What a key, huh? The key is gold (I threw that part in) and has four prongs on it. Wait a minute, to help illustrate, pull out a key from your pocket or purse. Do you see how it has notches on it? In order for it to open the lock it fits, it must be perfectly formed. Without one of the notches the lock remains closed. Now back to our illustration. This key has four notches.

 

  • Notch 1: humble yourself. Recognize that God is the supreme master of the Universe. You are nothing without Him.
  • Notch 2: pray. How is your prayer life? Are you giving God the ability to hear your requests? Are you spending "real" time talking to your Maker?
  • Notch 3: seek my face. Are you sincerely searching to know God? Is reading the Bible a normal routine in your life? Are you asking His Spirit to guide you in a deep knowledge of Him?
  • Notch 4: turn from your wicked ways. Oops. Can't fake this one, can you? Are you regularly evaluating and mourning over the sin in your life and attempting to, through God's power, rid yourself from the burden of sin?

 

Now, continuing on with the illustration, look at your key, not the one in the pocket, but the one with the four notches. Does it fit? Will it open the door to Heaven? Or do you need to refine some notches? His word says He will refine them....with a refiners fire!

I hope the key fits!