The Gate

Last Sunday night I watched Secret Millionaire, and what one of the "undercover" millionaires said was very poignant to me. Kevin and Diane Heavin, CEOs of Curves, lived on poverty level for about a week, spending each day with organizations as volunteers to eventually decide how they could financially support each. It's an intriguing show to say the least, and that episode's secret millionaires were truly willing to give of themselves and bless others.

Near the end of the show, Mr. Heavin created a stirring analogy when he described the gate at the entrance to his ranch. He said he realized that he took comfort in the fact that the gate separated him from everyone else, from the world. But after spending time outside of his comfort zone with autistic men and women, young men whose parents are in prison, and AIDS victims, he decided that opening the gate wasn't such a bad thing after all.

That simple analogy was like a huge whack on the head for me, and maybe it is for you. It leads me to ask few questions. What is my gate? What am I allowing to keep me in my own little world? What would happen if I moved that thing aside and reached out to a hurting world that needs Jesus, to hollow people who need to be filled? What if I opened the gate?