The Skate Key

Did you ever think about how many things have become obsolete?
Quite a number of things have become obsolete in our lifetime!

If you had a record player, your records were either 33 LP’s or 45’s.
Songs were sold on a seven inch “single” record which had an A side and a B side.
If you played your 45’s on a standard record player, you had to have an adapter.

The adapter was a small plastic disk that fit in the center hole of the record.
With the adapter, your record could fit perfectly on your turntable spindle.
You could always buy adapters at the cash register of the record store.
You could buy a dozen adapters for a dollar.

Milk men, Fotomat booths, triangular front window vent found on most cars.
Bottle openers, pull tabs, Green Stamps, wall phones, cassette tapes.
Modern antiques.

The one that I remember the most is the skate key.

Roller skates are devices worn on the feet allowing the wearer to roll along on wheels.
Roller skates were invented in 1760 by a Belgian man named John Joseph Merlin.
His prototype never seemed to catch on.

James Plimpton of Massachusetts invented his “rocking” skate in 1863.
People began to pay attention.
Plimpton’s skates made it easy for a person to turn corners.
This simple improvement brought roller skates to the masses.

Before shoe skates and roller blades, there were simple metal roller skates.
These skates strapped onto your shoes.
They were useless if you didn’t have a skate key to adjust them.

The skate key had a hexagonal loop on the top, which turned the bolt.
Turning the bolt on the bottom of the skate, adjusted its length.
The tubular end of the skate key fit on the pin that tightened the toe grips.
There was a long narrow hole in the middle of the key.
You put a shoelace through that hole so you could wear the key around your neck.

Wearing your skate key was not only necessary, it was fun!
It became an important accessory.

Your skates would inevitably become loose if you skated for a while.
You sat down on the sidewalk or curb and tightened your skate.
When you were finished skating, you took your skates off, fastened the buckles together, carried the skates over your shoulder, and headed home.

I loved to skate when I was a little girl.
I could get where I was going in half the time.
It was so pleasant to skate on a smooth surface.
It was a bit trickier to skate on bumpy sidewalks with cracks in between the squares.

There were skinned knees and brush burns on my hands when I tried to catch my fall.
Between the skate key and the minor injuries, it was obvious that I had been skating.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.
(John 13:34,35)

Loving one another is the skate key for followers of Jesus.
It is not a mere accessory.
It is necessary.

It is not for show.
It serves a purpose.

My skate key showed everyone that I had been skating.
Loving others shows everyone that I belong to HIM!

We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must love his brother.
(1 John 4:19-21)

It would have been ridiculous to have a skate key without skates.
It would have been equally ridiculous to have skates, but not have a key.

We cannot love others the way we should if we do not know the Lord Jesus.
We cannot say we know the Lord Jesus and fail to love others.

Ridiculous.
Yet many of us try to do just that.

We rationalize…if you only knew how hard it is to love them.
We justify…I have been terribly hurt by that person.
We make excuses…just give me time; it is something I am working on.

You either have the key…or you don’t.
Just because the key is around your neck, doesn’t mean you are actually skating.

Our skate key…loving one another…must never be a modern antique.
Loving one another is timeless.

Tie that key around your neck.
Use it.
Show the world that you belong to HIM.

Love one another…well!