John: I AM...the Door [Gate]

I am the gate: anyone who comes into the fold through Me will be safe.  He will go in and out and find pasture.  

 [John 10:9 REB]

I get very frustrated by my local Walgreen’s.  It sits on a corner property, and has two ways in, but only one way out.  The southbound traffic can enter directly into the front parking lot, but cannot leave the same way.  The northbound traffic must turn onto a side street and go in the main entrance/only exit.  You may not, however, turn left into the actual parking spaces.  Oh no – you must drive all the way around the back of the store, [passing the southbound entrance], and then park.  When you are finished, you must continue on around the front of the store and go out the way you came in.  It is a classic example of poor retail traffic planning.

Jesus referred to a common scene in His own community when He described Himself as the door, or gate of the sheepfold.  The animals grazed on the hillside during the day, but needed the shelter of the fold as the night descended.  There was only one way in, and the same way out, closely guarded by the shepherd.  Jesus declared, I AM the gate.  I am the only entrance into the fold.  I am the means of keeping My people safe.

Our Savior bids us to find our refuge in Him.  He alone is able to keep us safe from the wolves of temptation and the poacher of souls. 

You are my hiding place,

You always fill my heart with songs of deliverance

Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.

I will trust in You.

Let the weak say,

 “I am strong in the strength of the Lord,

I will trust in You.”