“And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19 KJV)
What a wonderful power and terrible responsibility this gives us! Despite the clarity of what Jesus says here, this verse tends to leave the reader a bit curious as to how this gift is manifested. I have been around long enough to see this used successfully in healing and in claiming the Lord’s authority over a particular challenge, but I think there is something more to this. At least there is something more common for those of us in the general population. It begins to reveal itself in a very popular verse in a very popular Psalm. “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97 KJV) Why would someone genuinely love a law? Take for instance a law that our current legislators seem to have got right, the reduced school zone speed limit and the increased fine for school zone tickets. To the teenager who is trying to show off or the delivery person in a hurry, this may seem to be a nuisance. To the parent and the immediate neighborhood around the school, it has very real value for the safety of the children. You can see how a parent could really embrace the intent of this law because there is some goodness in it. It provides a degree of protection and safety and an opportunity for the local police to be especially diligent in enforcing this zone. Now for the driver, who is driving through this school zone with decreased speeds, increased fines, and increased enforcement; the individual has a choice. They can resist the law because they see little benefit in it and twist it’s letter through various legal actions, they can speed through the neighborhood just one block over, they can flat disregard it and expense the fine, or they can employ any of a number of other ways of re-managing the “inconvenience”. They can conversely sympathize with the intent of the regulation and surrender to it by reducing their speed and navigating the school area with increased caution. The option of resistance opens a can of worms ranging from legal battles to decreased neighborhood safety (on blocks just one block over), or even the safety of the officer who is tasked with enforcement. The option of compliance opens the ability of the law to guide the immediate community around the school into safer driving habits and an awareness of safety for the children.
While our present legislatures seldom pen such sensible examples, Jesus has given us a similar choice in the common everyday practice of walking His Word in our everyday walk of life. As we become resistant to Him and re-manage things as they make sense to us, we bind much in His presence that clouds so many things so unnecessarily. As we see the value in what He has created and the order that He has placed things, we open much in His ability to work the giant wonders. It is when we are willing to serve at His direction that we are able to conquer that which is so misplaced and heal that which is so very broken. Hence, “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” (1 Peter 3:12 KJV)
“Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?” (Job 38:31-33 KJV)