Close The Gate Behind You

If you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person.

I GREW UP ON A FAMILY FARM. I was often assigned the job of helping move either the cattle or sheep from one pasture to another. My whole job was to close the gate behind the herd so they couldn’t backtrack and get into a field of alfalfa. All I had to do was close the gate behind me. Sounds simple enough, right?

But gate closing is boring work. Gate closing is a whole lot of waiting until something happens. Gate closing isn’t prestigious or exciting, but it is vitally important.

On the path to wellness, wholeness, and emotional health, there are many gates to close. There are groups to attend, homework to complete, and amends to make. Closing the gates means not leaving loose ends hanging. Are there some people with whom you have some loose ends? Is there a phone call you need to make to say, “I’m sorry”? Do you need to return something that you “borrowed”? Is there restitution that might renew a relationship?

My mama used to tell me, “Close the gates behind you.” And most often she wasn’t talking about the field gate, but rather making amends to repair or restore a relationship. Jesus was so serious about the need to make things right that he told people not to give a gift to God unless they first made things right with others (see Matthew 5:23-24).

Pray and ask God to remind you of open gates in relationships that may need to be closed so you or another can gain freedom to move forward.