The other day we had a bad thunderstorm and the wind picked up and blew my fence gate open.  I didn’t realize this had happened and let my dogs out back the next thing I knew one of them was barking at the front door of my house to be let in.  Thankfully they didn’t run off although they could have because the gate wasn’t doing its job.  Gates control who gets in and who stays in.  When it comes to our faith life Jesus is our gate.  He says the way to God is through Him.  He calls Himself the gate in John 10.  Let’s look at it together today.

Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

The Pharisees and religious leaders thought of themselves as the gate to God.  In this passage Jesus calls Himself the gate (the ay to God) and also the Good Shepherd.  He serves as both in our lives.  He is our way to God and He is the shepherd who cares for us.  He has plans for a great and full life for us and when we follow Him that is exactly what we have.  When my gate failed my dogs didn’t run away and ran back to the house because they know who cares for them and more importantly feeds them.  Jesus is a gate that will never fail but more importantly He is our good shepherd that cares for us perfectly.  May we all run to Him for His great care for us.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave