THE LOCK OF GRACE -
Mike Endicott
The canal is old – it was engineered
by the Ancient of Days and opened for general use with an inaugural act on
Calvary itself.
In truth there is a whole network of
such canals around the world – waterways of many shapes, directions and sizes
- and together they bear the name ‘church’.
Very close is a working lock that
allows the water level to rise and fall between the higher and lower levels,
thus enabling boats that come from above to pass on down the canal to those who
need their precious cargo.
The name of this canal is Grace.
It begins it’s winding journey somewhere far away in the hills above
the lock where is the city of heaven in the land of the future – Tomorrow
Land. Below the lock and down in
the valley lies the city of ‘life’ in the adjoining country of Today Land.
Living here below the lock are millions in various states of desperation,
all starving to death without the cargo gifts that are driven down to them.
Driven? The engines of
the boats are fired by the expectancy of the saints.
The lock itself is the Christian heart.
It has a set of two gates above and two below, between them being a well
that fills and empties with the flow of Grace as they open and shut.
The upper gates, those that allow the well to fill, are the twin gates of
Humility and Obedience
And the lower set, those that allow
Grace to flow out to the lower levels, are called The Gates of Compassion.
The lock keeper, whose name is Conscience, has duties that he must
perform - taking care of the lock so that it does not seize up with lack of use
and prevent the flow of Grace and the gift boats along her course.
He must maintain the lock gates
themselves and ensure that the well itself is saved from being silted up.
To do this he uses a dredger that was supplied for his use on
Inauguration Day. It is the
dredger of repentance.
All four gate hinges and all the
sluices must be kept in fine working order as well and all is achieved with the
lubricant of spiritual and truthful worship.
When all is working smoothly, boats may
pass with ease and with little delay between the upper and lower levels, winging
on to those who need so much to unload them when they arrive.
When all at the lock is working
smoothly the High King of Heaven is well pleased, His children who live in the
city of life are graced and maintained through His rich abundance.
Conscience, the Lock Keeper, may, of
course, exercise his own free will and sit down to rest.
He may spend his days admiring his most beautiful lock and the gentle
sweep of the canal as it flows down to him from the hills.
This sight of all the canal barges moored up along the bank, waiting
their turn, may be a pretty vision to him and he may block his ears to the
hungry cries welling up from the city below, saying to himself,
"What is that to do with me?"
But if he attends himself to working
the gates at every opportunity, and to constant watchfulness over their working
order, then he himself becomes a smooth-running cog in the flow of Grace and a
beat in the heart of God.
___________________
We thank our friend Mike for his
thought provoking contribution to our considerations of the church and take this
opportunity to promote his new book.
I understand that the sale of his books is now a valuable source of
income for Jacob’s Well.
The new book about Yates, Mike
Endicott’s Guide Dog is Find the Way!
and tells of his adventures as a dog in ministry.
It is now available from the
Well Centre, tel. 01633
483660
Order forms for Find the Way! can be
downloaded from the Jacob's Well Website
Book Review
We did intend to write our review but
it seems better to reproduce the foreword which is written by another good
friend of ours Jennifer Rees-Larcombe, we can only endorse it.
FOREWORD to Find the Way!
Over the last few years, I have heard
Mike telling lots of stories about the adventures he and Yates have had
together. They are often very
funny, and always fascinating, but they are also something more.
As Mike explains the unique relationship of trust that exists
between himself and Yates, he uses it to show us how God longs for a similar
kind of relationship with us. It
astounds me to discover just how many things Mike is able to do, and how many
places he is able to visit, simply because of Yates, but all this is only
possible because of the way they trust and rely on one another.
And, of course, the trust and reliance only comes because they also
respect and love one another deeply. Watching
the way that Yates and Mike become one, as they stride off together through
crowded streets, always gives me a kick.
Mike has told me of the closeness that
exists between him and Yates: "When
he’s got his harness on, he thinks I’m actually part of his own body!"
—and he speaks of the way he himself has to keep very close to the Lord, in
order to minister effectively to the people he meets each day.
Yes, this is a profound book, but it is
also great fun, easy to read, and a fascinating account of the complex,
demanding and extremely responsible job of being a guide dog. I know you
are going to enjoy it on many different levels, but to get the very best out of
it, do let it speak to you on the deepest level of all.
Jennifer
Rees Larcombe