The Door - Your Daily Forward Devotional

The Door

May 30

Read John 10:7 (ESV)

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.”

Respond

What did Jesus mean when He said He is “the door”?

Our family is pretty hospitable. We gladly welcome guests into our home. But I wouldn’t be very happy if someone snuck around the back or climbed into my home through the window. It’s breaking and entering! I would be justified in assuming criminal intent and calling the cops. A person who refuses to use the front door is usually a thief.

Jesus’ third “I am” statement is that He is the door of the sheep. He is the only way into the sheepfold, the kingdom of God. If His metaphor wasn’t clear enough, He stated it plainly in John 14:6: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus said, “’Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture’” (John 10:7-9). If we want to have eternal life, we have to enter in through the door—Jesus Christ. He is the only way in. But once we are in, we have life and we have it abundantly (John 10:10).

But this makes many people cry foul! Only one way to get to God? Only one way to heaven? They argue that it’s too exclusive. Shouldn’t all religions get you to heaven? Shouldn’t everyone be able to decide for themselves how to get to God?

No. God is God. He gets to decide who can come to Him and He gets to decide how anyone is able to enter into His Kingdom. Thankfully, He has invited everyone to come to Him. He doesn’t want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). But He commands that they use the Door—His only Son, whom He gave that we may not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

God gave us an indescribable gift by sending His only Son to die for us! He didn’t have to do that. He didn’t have to make a way for us to be reconciled to God. He could have kept His Kingdom locked up. He could have just left us to our own devices and allowed us to perish in our sin. After all, that is what we deserved. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Instead, God offered us what we don’t deserve. He sent His Son to make a way for all of us to enter in. He made a way for us to be reconciled with God so that we can stand in His presence uncondemned (John 3:18). He made a way for us to have eternal life (John 3:36). All He requires is that we enter through His Son, Jesus Christ— the Door.

Reflect

Lord, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus to be the Door. I know that through Him, I can come to the Father and have eternal life. I know that there is salvation found in no one else but that I can have life in His name (Acts 4:12). Amen.

Reveal: Do you know someone who believes that there are multiple ways to get to God? How can you longingly reveal the truth to them that there is only one Door into God’s Kingdom?

~ Pastor Nat Crawford