Today, our first reading reminds us that faith is the key to eternal life. However, this key cannot be purchased as we are used to doing with many things in life. Also, it is not something we can earn or deserve. Faith is a gift from God. God wants us to use this key to develop an eternal relationship with Him and experience abundant life forever.
Some people have refused this gift. Other people have taken it but have chosen not to use it. Others have taken it but want to reshape it to open a door that is not a passageway to the presence of God. However, there are those who have accepted the key and desire to have life with God. When God gives us the key of faith, God also gives us some directions attached to it. The sacraments, prayer, and good acts are part of those directions.
We are called to respond gratefully and lovingly to the gift (faith) God has given to us. Even though sometimes we have misused it, we are invited to share this key of faith and to help others to use it. We must trust in God and believe that God will give us all we need. It is then that we can join the psalmist today saying, “I trust in the Lord, my soul trusts in God’s word. My soul waits for the Lord, more than sentinels wait for the dawn.”