3/31 Through the Bible in Devotions

John 10

“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” (v. 9)

Notice here that Jesus compares us to sheep, and that the sheep enter into the sheepfold through Him, and He makes them sheep. Imposters cannot be sheep, and sheep cannot be imposters. When we “enter in” we are saved, and, as sheep, we cannot be anything we are not! In the previous verses, however, we see that the Shepherd entered the sheepfold as the Porter opened to Him, and found the sheep already there waiting for Him. Read this passage carefully and thoughtfully, it is very important that we get it right. In v. 2, we see the Shepherd Himself entering the sheepfold; He then becomes the Door for others to enter, (v. 9); but when He enters, He finds sheep already prepared to receive Him, and leads them out, and they follow Him, (v. 3). The Father (the Porter) has prepared them for Him, and Him for them, and He leads them out into the world to find pasture. I am not promoting the doctrine of predestination, but emphasizing the foreknowledge of God, which the entire misconception of election and predestination hinges upon. God knew who would, and would not respond to the Gospel message long before the Shepherd entered the picture, and He knew that the Shepherd would come and lead the sheep to green pastures. In v. 4, He putteth forth “His own” sheep, as they were given to Him from the Father, v. 29, (read John 17 in its entirety), but God only gave those to Him that He already knew would willingly accept Him as their Shepherd. Anyone else would be a thief and/or a robber if they tried to enter in any other way. The strangers would not follow Him out anyway, because they would not know His voice (v. 5).

Now, this brings us to another point; We are His sheep, given to Him by the Father, and we can never be “un-sheeped”! A sheep can never be a wolf, even if he dresses up like one, and a wolf can never be a sheep. We are what we are. We have entered into the “Door” and He has given us eternal life, and we are saved (v. 9). Now we go back out as “His own” sheep, who are given to Him, and none will be lost. When we walk in this world, through this life, we walk with Jesus, and He leads us to the refreshing “green pastures” of life. We cannot follow another, because we do not recognize strangers, so we must remain in the fold of Christ. The point is though, that we go in and out after we are saved! We never leave being a sheep, but we do not always dwell in the place where the Shepherd found us, we go on to greener pastures. This is the growth stage that Christians go through after salvation. Following the Shepherd will allow us to grow, and the pastures become greener and greener all time for us, and we fare better and better as a result of it. What an exciting chapter to meditate on.