‘I am the gate for the sheep…’ (John 10:7)
I’m not a fan of labyrinths. I’m not claustrophobic but there is something about labyrinths that just make me want to look for a quick way out and wish that suddenly a door or gate might open up to enable me to make that escape. But I wonder if we’ve ever given any thought to the question. What is the real purpose of a door or a gate? Is it to keep us out or to keep us in? Or is it to let us out or to let us in? All one and the same, you might say, and you might be right. But maybe the way we view a door or gate is dependent on our frame of mind at that time.
In the passage in John where we find this next ‘I am…’ of Jesus, we find Jesus talking about sheep and how He is the good shepherd, and we’ll reflect more on that tomorrow. But in this short verse Jesus is effectively telling us that he is both the way out of all that is wrong in our lives and the way in to all that is good – life everlasting in the presence of God. Jesus is that door or gate that no-one else or nothing else can be. We can only come to God through Jesus and unless we open that door or gate and enter in we will spend an eternity without God. In Revelation 3:20 we are told, ‘Here I am. I stand at the door and knock…’ The only question that remains is this, are we going to open that door?
Lord, we thank You that You provide for us a way to be reconciled to our Father in Heaven. Help us to open that door that we might be with You and help us also to bring others along with us that they too might find salvation. And all this we ask in Jesus name.