Today’s Devotional

MONDAY, April 30, 2012: 

John 10:7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.”

      When I was a little boy, people seldom locked their doors.  Matter of fact, most people had something that is almost forgotten – a “screen door”.   Screen doors are made out of metal mesh and are designed to allow the breeze to blow through the house while providing a little protection (mainly from bugs and critters).  Even as I’m typing this one of the sounds of my childhood comes back to me, the sound of the screen door slamming behind me as I would run out the door to go play.  Those were the days…

Then much later in life as a part of my responsibility become the oversight of buildings and property I was introduced to “fire-rated” doors and “fire-rated” sheetrock.  These being designed to act as a deterrent to fires and allow people time to escape.

And then over decade or so I have been introduced to “firewalls” which is special software designed to keep just anybody and anything from being able to have access to my computer.

And then came grand parenting.  Sonja and I learned very early that second story steps and crawling grandchildren do not go together well.  It didn’t take long for us to learn how to rig up “gates” to keep our grandchildren from trying to climb up the steps and risk hurting themselves.

The one thing that all these examples have in common is that they serve as a type of “gate-keeper” to provide protection.  That is a part of what Jesus was talking about when he described himself as the “door” – He insists on being the filter by which things are allowed into our lives.  This is for our own good but it can cramp our style a bit.  That will be some of the things we examine this week, however, for today I’ll close with this thought: Trusting Jesus as the “Door” means that you trust His judgment when it comes to what is allowed in your life.  Are you willing?