As we approach another New Year we are again aware that the future holds many mysteries for us. Will it be a year of poverty or prosperity? Will it be a year of happiness or sorrow? Will it be a year of life or death? Who knows? While we do not know what the future holds, we can know who holds the future. The future is in God’s hands.
The Romans named January for Janus, the Roman god of portals. He was depicted as a two-faced, one-headed being who could look forward and backward at the same time. In his hand are keys for according to their superstitious mythology he is in charge of all doors, entrances, and gates.
If they had only known it, the Keeper of the Keys is not Janus but Christ. In fact, the Bible often describes Christ as “He that hath the keys.”
Christ holds the keys of life and death. Your life is continually in his hands. He alone has the power to give life or to take it away.
Christ holds the keys to heaven and hell. He alone has the power to open to you the door of eternal life. No person reaches heaven except through him.
Christ holds the keys to future opportunities. It is Jesus who is “He that openeth and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth.”
If the English word for doorkeeper “janitor” is a derivation from Janus, why not Christianize the idea this January by making Christ himself the "janitor" of our lives at the opening of every day and every door of the year?