THE LOCKED GATE

Every evening, old Mr. Harlan walked the same narrow trail to a weathered iron gate at the edge of his farm. He would unlock it, swing it open, look down the empty road for a few moments, then quietly return to his house.

The neighbors whispered that grief had stolen his reason. Years before, his only son had left home after a bitter argument, promising never to return. Yet every sunset the old man unlocked the gate.

One autumn evening, a traveler stopped and asked, “Why do you open a gate that no one ever enters?”

The old man smiled. “The road is empty most days. But if my son ever comes home, I don’t want him to find a locked gate and wonder whether he is still welcome.”

The traveler nodded politely and continued on his journey. Before dawn there was a knock at the farmhouse door. Standing there, weary and ashamed, was the son who had been gone for twenty years. He had reached the gate in the darkness and found it unlocked.

The father embraced him without a word of accusation. The gate had been opened thousands of times for one moment that mattered.

So it is with our heavenly Father. His invitation remains open because of Christ. The door of mercy is not locked against the repentant sinner.

Jesus declared, “The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37).

While there is opportunity, let us come home.

And if we have already been welcomed into His family, let us keep the gates of forgiveness open for others, “forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

BDD