“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:9
We know Jesus is the door, the only door, to salvation. The part of this verse that caught my eye this time was the “go in and out.” There is no in and out of salvation, so what “door” does this part of the verse allude to?
The way sheep were corralled may give us some clue. The corral itself didn’t have a door, but just an opening. The shepherd would lie in that opening and become the door. Nothing could go in or out except through him. What a comfort that is for the believer! Nothing comes into or out of our lives except through Him. Nothing!
The flip side to that is what we do or where we try to go. We can go out and find pasture if we go through Him. How many times have we said or heard, “when God closes the door, he opens a window”? I almost feel like we need to confess that as sin. God doesn’t close the door. He is the door! If that door is closed, then it is definitely not a path He has for us. We don’t need to look for a window, we need to wait until the door opens. We need to wait for Him to move out of the opening of the corral and allow us to go out. It is only then that we can find the pasture He has prepared for us.
Oh, and instead of impatiently or anxiously waiting, perhaps we need to remind ourselves that we’re waiting inside the corral in the very presence of the Shepherd, in the very place He wants us to be. So if you’re currently facing what seems to be a closed door, enjoy that extra time of being fully protected, fully cared for, fully corralled with Him right there with you.
Jesus, thank you that as we recognize and allow you to be the door to all areas of our lives, we can know You will keep our going out and coming in (Psalm 121:8) and we can rest in Your promise that we will be blessed when we come in and blessed when we go out (Deuteronomy 28:6).