Read: John 10:1-9
Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. (v. 7)
Our dog barks anytime a stranger approaches our house. From her perch looking out the upstairs window, if she sees a delivery person outside, she runs down the stairs and barks until they leave. Thankfully, our mail carrier has never tried to rob us, but if someone did come to our house with malicious intent, I hope she’d bark at them too.
Animals know who they can trust. In John 10, the sheep are able to distinguish the shepherd from the thief because the shepherd comes through the door. And Jesus is the door through which the good shepherd comes. Jesus being the door doesn’t only mean that Jesus is the way we get to God, although it does mean that (v. 9). Jesus being the door also means that he is the way God comes to us: “he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep” (v. 2). Before we ever go through the door toward God, God has already come through that door toward us. Because God comes to us through a Jesus-shaped door, we can know that God is safe.
Like frightened sheep or barky dogs, we can trust the one who comes through the door. We know we can trust God because God comes to us through Jesus. The more we look at Jesus, the more we can settle down and trust that God is good. Then we will be ready to “go in and out and find pasture” (v. 9).
As you pray, ask God to show you that you can trust him.
About the Author
Sarah Sanderson is the author of The Place We Make: Breaking the Legacy of Legalized Hate. She lives with her husband and their four teenage children in Oregon.
