Lift Up Ye Gates
Posted by Marjorie Ainsborough Decker text© 2010 on Jan 16th, 2010
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Hello Dear Blog-Nog Friends from frozen Decker Hills,
Yes, January did indeed bring snow – record breaking snow and ice, and freezing temperatures that kept us marooned on our hill for over a week. 
It was so cold that two bobcats (rarely seen) came roaming by. But, today, Winter’s gate will be opening to let warmer weather in. Hurray!
Perhaps many of you were also caught up in this Arctic Blast from the North Pole. I felt that we were only a snowball’s throw away from a “Narnia” Winter. It made me wish for one of those warm fur coats I saw hanging in the actual wardrobe that inspired C.S. Lewis’ classic tale, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
I had the delightful experience of re-enacting little Lucy’s inquisitive opening of the “gate” to Narnia in Lewis’ story, where she opened the wardrobe door, pushed aside the fur coats hanging in there, and discovered the land of Narnia. 
Narnia where it is “Always winter and never Christmas.”
The occasion of my adventure was a visit with my son, Kevin, to the Marion Wade Center at Wheaton College (Kevin’s alma mater). The Center houses the original works, letters and memorabilia of C.S. Lewis.
It was fascinating to read some of his handwritten manuscripts. This was his method of writing – an amazing feat, when you consider the hundreds of pages in just his “Chronicles of Narnia” alone!
However, when I came face to face with the original wardrobe from Lewis’ boyhood home in Ireland, what could you expect from Christian Mother Goose? Naturally, like Lucy, my curiosity opened the door, pushed aside the fur coats, and felt the wonder of Narnia’s atmosphere still there.
I’m sure Lewis’ grandfather, who handcrafted and beautifully carved the wardrobe, never dreamed of the “gate” he was preparing for the delight of millions of children around the world. 
The gate through which they would find Jesus, The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, reflected in Aslan, the lion of Narnia. And so we come to the theme of today’s blog: “Gates.”
A few miles down our country road is a lovely buffalo ranch. The entrance is a stunning iron gate with a steel, painted buffalo mounted on it. The buffalo was crafted by a young Indian man. It is so real, it often fools those driving by. We periodically buy choice, all-naturally-raised buffalo meat there. And if you look at the health statistics of buffalo meat, you’ll see why. It beats beef, pork and chicken in every category for being the lowest in fat, cholesterol and calories.
This handsome gate is an invitation to scenic beauty, health, and a chance to sing the cowboy song: “Oh, give me a home, where the buffalo roam…”
The importance and strength of gates in Scripture were representative of their power to guard the city. They were also the most popular and busiest place in town. Merchants were there by sunrise to set up shop, followed by city elders who would settle disputes, witness business transactions, and render important civic decisions.
The city of Gaza woke up one day to find their mighty gates had vanished overnight! 
In an incredible feat of strength, recorded in Judges 16:3, Samson, (Israel’s Mr. Universe ) pulled up the gates of this enemy city at midnight, and carried them away on his shoulders to Hebron. That’s a distance of over thirty miles! Instantly, Samson became number one on the Philistine’s most wanted list. On the other hand, he was Israel’s hero, and probably number one strong man for Israel in any forthcoming Olympics.
Just recently, I was reading a book on archeological evidence of Church life before Constantine, by Graydon F. Snyder. A most illuminating entry about a gate was listed on a Roman Papyrus Document dated February 5, 304, titled: “Declaration of Church Property.”
Under oath, a certain Aurelius Ammonius certified that his church owned nothing except a bronze gate! It went on : “Neither gold nor silver nor money nor clothes nor beasts nor lands nor property either from grants or bequests.” Simply one gate! What food for thought!
This revelation led me to think of the significance of such a church statement: “One gate.” Our Lord Jesus, by His own words, taught us He is the Gate, the only Gate to Heaven and eternal life. Nothing else matters. Nothing. Salvation, peace and His loving arms of welcome are at that Gate.
This week a memory came to my mind of the fate of beautiful wrought-iron gates in World War II England. Whatever those gates were built for, whatever they kept in or kept out, all individual purpose was now secondary to the defense and survival of a whole nation. The gates were delivered to the furnace and melted down to become armaments for the winning of the war.
Today, as I think of those gates being sacrificed, I see the picture of Jesus hanging on the Cross, dying not for just one nation, but for the deliverance of the whole world from the great enemy of sin and death. Jesus, the Beautiful Gate Who was delivered to the fires of judgment in our place; to pay the penalty of Heaven’s court that we couldn’t pay; Jesus, the Gate to eternal life, all because “God so loved the world….”
King David, writing Psalm 24:7-8, gives a resounding cry to his nation, which I apply, not only to Israel, but to the gates of the minds of God’s people everywhere. “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle.”
May we enter this challenging year of 2010 with the gates of our minds open to let the King of glory in; rejoicing that, “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (I John 4:4)
Thanks for visiting me at the gate today. Warmest wishes,
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Christian Mother Goose®
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I really enjoyed finding your blog recently. There is always something you say that makes me think – exercise for the brain. This blog about gates reminds me that we all go through so many gates in life, otherwise known as decisions we must make. Some gates are harder to go through than others. Some gates we close after we get through them and some we leave open in case we want to go back through them later. Heaven is certainly the final and most important gate we all want to get through. Thanks, Miriam
Miriam – what a wonderful reflection on gates you shared – thank you … so beautifully stated! I was thinking that as the Good Shepherd is the door/gate through which we go out and come in as we find pasture, solace, protection, and refreshment, there are indeed many gates in life that the Lord Jesus may leave open through which we may go in, out, back in, depending on the need at the time and even our own readiness. Discerning His timing is the important matter, yet even if we are off a degree or a few, He causes it all to work together for our good – for He loves us so!
Marjorie – did I write to you once that Psalm 24 was one of the first (entire) Psalms of two (also Ps 46) that I was instructed to memorize in one two week Vacation Bible School the summer after second grade? Who could say that children can’t hide larger portions of scripture in their hearts when encouraged/challenged to do so? From then, it’s forever there ready to aid in guidance through many paths and gates throughout life. Thank the LORD for His gracious Word … and thank you for this sweet meditation. Lewis is probably my favorite author so reminders of his life and work are always fun and rich!
Hoping your hearts are continually warmed throughout this winter and new year with Christmas there every day!
Love,
Carolyn
Hello Mrs. Decker, very interesting and entertaining blog on gates. I never had a gate to go through or a fence to climb over until I was an adult. I remember feeling a bit less free when I first lived in a house with a fence and gate, like it was a symbol that said I had to keep certain things out. Seems like there are gates that open up to good things and gates that open up to bad things. Prayer and faith are important tools to help a person know which are which. Timothy
How facinating. You always bless me with your blog. I look forward to every one, and check often to see if there is a new one. A long life has many good aspects and sharing of memories is just one of them. I wish I had recorded my father’s memories. One I remember is advice from his father. “Son, don’t ever smoke, unless you can buy your own, do not bum from others.” As a result he never smoked and was a very independent man.
How funny that you chose to write about “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” as I happen to be rereading that whole series currently! It is interesting to read them with an adult mind and discover all the parallels.
Hope you all are well, and we sure do miss you!
Much love,
Sarah
This is a very interesting blog. Seems to me that the eyes and ears are the gates into a person’s mind and heart and the mouth is the gate that lets out a person’s thoughts and feelings to the world.
I’m so glad that you leave each blog up for a little while now. It gives time to ruminate a bit and for new thoughts to form. For years, I’ve wondered about why the Lord chose a pearl for heaven’s twelve gates. This morning I was listening to a radio minister who mentioned the pearly gate. I thought of my question and wondered again. Aha! What probably has been obvious to many finally came to me! When David Jeremiah commented, “that must have been one big oyster!,” I thought of how pearls are formed … over time in response to even a small but very hard and very irritating, very painful and hurtful grain. The Lord gives the oyster a way out of the pain by surrounding the grain with a comforting secretion that not only enfolds the painful thing that came into its life but transforms it into something unimaginably beautiful, rare, and valuable! Aren’t His secretions for us faith/trust in Him, His Word, and Holy Spirit?! As with Joseph, ‘God’s delay is not (necessarily) God’s denial‘. God has a plan!
Everyone of us has terribly painful things from time to time in life. It’s the painful things that He uses to transform us as well as the difficult thing itself into such a great blessing as we can not imagine at the time. But this usually isn’t a quick process. Eventually, we find that the painful thing may become the very gate He uses to bring us into a new place where we experience His Presence, love, joy, provision, God Himself in a deeper way!
Surely, the road to heaven is narrow and the gate small but made of one big single pearl! Jesus is the Gate, Who died to make the way for us to join Him in heaven, and Who calls us to take up our own cross to follow Him (what is a cross but a matter of trust in His sovereignty and goodness?) I think that as we follow Him, we enter the gate of heaven through many trials and tests only to find that the tests are really our way to see Him face to face, to share in His sufferings and to know Him as He has known us. But we always have a choice … to become bitter or better.
I’m still pondering this. Yes, Jesus is the gate, and He is an “irritant” to those who would try to storm the gates of heaven on their own merits rather than accepting His gifts of faith and grace. Oh, we see the 12 gates being the apostles, but possibly the gate of heaven may also be those very tests and trials the Lord uses to bring us closer to Himself, that are transformed into something precious, that transform us, and through which we enter into Him.
Here’s are a couple of great URLs from UTube about perseverance I think you‘ll like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx796zSg5gs&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a6DX_m87y0
This is a bit of a different angle on your cheery blog but in keeping with January’s “Winter’s Gate” holding the hope of Springtime just under the surface, let’s always remember His many Promises to hold us fast and provide our every need! If you’re a whopping oyster with a whopping grain or multiple grains of sand in your gullet, hang in there! Something precious is forming within!
Sorry to take up so much space here!
Hope you’re cozy by the fire in the snow there! Carolyn
What a chuckle I got from your blog. I very rarely throw out any food, but once I do I am amazed at how fast the crows know it. What sensory antennea they must have. God’s way of feeding the birds, and using us to help. If we get credit for a cup of cold water, you may get credit for a tortilla. Chuckle!!!