Prayer
Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your sense of anticipation that God is about to speak to you through His Word. Then, before you read, I invite you to pray this simple prayer from Psalm 100:3-5,
Lord, You are God.
You have made me, and I am Yours;
I am Yours – a sheep of Your pasture.
I enter Your gates with thanksgiving,
and Your courts with praise;
I give thanks to You and praise Your name.
For You are good and Your love endures for ever;
Your faithfulness continues through all generations.
Amen.
Reading
This week we continue in John 10 and as we progress through the chapter we’ll focus on different aspects of our relationship with Jesus that emerge from the sheep-shepherd metaphor.
In today’s metaphor, Jesus says that He is not only the Good Shepherd, but also the “gate for the sheep”. It is by Jesus – and only by Jesus – that anyone can enter God’s Flock. As Jesus put it in v.9a, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” (compare John 14:6).
That is an awe-inspiring thought in itself. But today I’m choosing to dwell on Jesus’ words in v.9b: “They will come in and go out, and find pasture.“
In the Old Testament, “coming in and going out” was a lovely Hebrew way of describing freedom in all the normal dealings of a person’s life. It particularly described a state of being absolutely secure and safe.
We find it in the blessing in Deuteronomy 28:6,
“You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.”
Perhaps we’re more familiar with Psalm 121:
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm–
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and for evermore.
When Moses’ life was about to end, he prayed to the Lord in Numbers 27:16-17
‘May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.’
The ultimate answer to Moses’ prayer was, of course, Jesus Christ! Jesus is the One True Shepherd who leads and directs our lives in such a way as to sustain us in even the most difficult seasons of life. When the economy is spiralling, when war clouds loom, when crime surrounds us and all seems doom and gloom, all hope is never lost because Jesus Christ is our Good Shepherd and He is with us to lead us out and bring us in safely!
So today, as you go out, go following Jesus. As you come in, come in following Jesus. Keep our Lord constantly before you, in every thought and every situation. Trust Him to guide you safely through.
Contemplation
Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn these declarations over and over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.
As a disciple of Jesus Christ:
- I will keep the Lord constantly before me in every thought and action.
- I will go in and out and be sustained by Jesus my Lord.
Lord Jesus, bless me and keep me in the palm of Your hand today. Watch over my coming and going, both now and forevermore. Amen.
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