Names of Jesus | Advent DevotionalSample

Sunday, December 15 John 10:1-10 | The Door Author: Rev. Caleb Koornneef

When I was in my teens, I made a habit of going to a neighborhood friend’s home after dark without my parents’ knowledge. They were under the assumption that I was in my room sleeping. Well, I was in my room at first, but I had figured out how to take the screen off the window, climb out onto the roof, and shimmy down the basketball hoop in my driveway. I snuck out to do simple activities like campfires with friends, skateboarding to a late-night fast-food restaurant, or watching movies. While the activities were generally harmless, the level of deceit I became comfortable with was quite harmful to me. Despite becoming an expert at entering my house through anything but the door, I eventually got caught in a way I never expected.

In John 10:1-10, Jesus teaches that there are those who try to enter the “sheepfold” (a metaphor for the collective people of God or the invisible church) not by the door or gate but by trying to climb in another way. Perhaps you’ve heard the more modern-day phrase, “There are many paths to reach the top of the mountain.” The Lord warns his followers not to be caught up in this way of thinking. He explains that false shepherds would have people believe there are many ways to get to greener pastures. But His Word is clear, “if anyone enters by me, he will be saved” (John 10:9).

By trying to enter my bedroom by the window instead of the door, I was essentially saying, “I’m going to do things my way.” Even though I had fun doing things “my way,” it didn’t provide lasting fulfillment. One night, as I was climbing back through my bedroom window around 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, I felt my stomach drop. I knew my shenanigans had caught up to me. As I quietly closed the window behind me, shut the blinds, and drew back the sheets, I noticed my mother sleeping in my bed. Obviously, my parents knew something about what I’d been up to. I had to face them and the consequences of my actions.

Looking back, my parents showed me so much grace, especially in situations where I was caught in my own webs of deceit. But they didn’t just want me to know that there is a right way and a wrong way of doing things – they wanted me to know the Way. The best part about Jesus being the Way, or Door as John 10 illustrates, is that God doesn’t expect you to go in or out based on your own abilities because he is also the Good Shepherd who loves, leads, and lays his life down for his sheep This Advent, may you listen to his voice – rejecting all others – and enter by the Door (not the window).