I am a singer, songwriter, wife, mother, Jesus follower. I send out a 2-minute read every Tuesday about Jesus and life in God.
They Go In and Out
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Hi Friends, I’m still obsessed with what I’m finding in John 10. Come with me: John 10:9 says Jesus is the door. He’s the only way to the Father, the only source of salvation. Even still, He could have been anything—a maze, a secret entrance, a bar set high for few to attain—but He is a door. Not hidden, not complicated, He is accessible by very definition. For every soul burdened by guilt and shame, He is the way into the presence of God. His sheep go in and out and find pasture (John 10:9). Unlike the religious leaders of the day who tied up heavy burdens on men’s backs and who held up the requirements of the law, even adding to them, as a means to control, Jesus comes with a very different ambition—He gives His sheep freedom. Not a wall, not a fence, He is the door. A. W. Pink states, “This was something vastly different from the experiences…under the law of Moses. One of the chief designs of the ceremonial law was to hedge Israelites around with ordinances which kept them separate from all other nations”. He states, “to go ‘in and out’ is a figurative way to express perfect freedom”. Can I be honest? I’m prone to doubt it. I give that level of freedom the side eye, wondering if this is a secret test. I’m like the one-talent servant of Matthew 25 who buries it all, presuming the master to be harsh. But I see something in the other two servants of this parable—the ones of whom the master said, “well done”. These two “good and faithful servants”? They are ones who use the door. They go out and invest the talents entrusted to them. They experiment, take risks, face the unknown. These are things you do not do if you believe your master to be harsh and unkind. Their actions—their risks—show that their hearts believe Him to be good. They see Him not as a wall, not hard ground to dig into and bury what they’ve been given. He is a door. Yes, the sheep of this Good Shepherd come in and go out and find pasture. And as they do, He smiles on them. “Well done!” –Anna P.S. There’s more to say! Next week, let’s hit up the part about how the sheep go in and out and find pasture. It may just be the best part of all. |
Anna Blanc
I am a singer, songwriter, wife, mother, Jesus follower. I send out a 2-minute read every Tuesday about Jesus and life in God.
Hi Friends, Last week we talked about my kids and their insatiable search for adventure. With childlike eyes, they found it everywhere. Time has a way of growing us up and growing us out of our eager expectation for adventure. Memories of childhood take on a magical aura as we step into the cold, hard reality of adulthood. I mean, filing your taxes will do that to you. But it’s more than just the process of growing up. We tend to begin believing wrong things about God, and in turn we believe...
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