Gatekeeper
I’ve used this term before to describe an executive assistant or executive secretary who protects access to a CEO or President of a large company. People in high demand leadership have gatekeepers. I had the privilege of meeting some of our elected officials a few years ago in Washington D.C. and they all have “gatekeepers” around them to protect their time and keep their schedule moving along.
Gatekeepers in biblical times served early on at the Tabernacle before the temple was built. Not only did they keep the gates where access was, they kept tabs on all the items in the Tabernacle or Temple. Check this out….
20 Phinehas son of Eleazar had been in charge of the gatekeepers in earlier times, and the Lord had been with him.
23 These gatekeepers and their descendants, by their divisions, were responsible for guarding the entrance to the house of the Lord when that house was a tent.24 The gatekeepers were stationed on all four sides—east, west, north, and south. 25 Their relatives in the villages came regularly to share their duties for seven-day periods.
26 The four chief gatekeepers, all Levites, were trusted officials, for they were responsible for the rooms and treasuries at the house of God. 27 They would spend the night around the house of God, since it was their duty to guard it and to open the gates every morning. (1 Chronicles 9:20,23-28 NLT)
I need a gatekeeper to my heart. There are things I’ve seen and heard that are disturbing to my soul. Someone once said, “the eyes are the window to the soul”. There are things that I’ve seen that I can’t “un-see”. There are things I’ve heard that I can’t “unhear”. The Lord knows all that I’ve seen and heard. The Lord knows all the places I’ve been. He is the Ultimate Gatekeeper of my soul.
I sometimes need the accountability of a gatekeeper. My wife serves as a gatekeeper of sorts on my behalf. My closest friends are also part of my “gatekeeping” team. I see gatekeeper as boundary enforcement. I think just about everyone needs some boundary enforcement. I’m thankful for the gatekeepers in my life. I think gatekeeping can be reciprocal. I also help others by serving as their gatekeeper too.
I only want certain people at certain times to have uninterrupted and unaltered access to me. The Lord has an “all access pass” to the gates around me for sure.
Pressing On!
Dwayne