“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  He will come in and go out, and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:9-10)

As I understand it, sheep have little to no natural defenses against predators.  If a wolf comes, on its own the sheep can either try running away or huddle together with other sheep and hope that it finds its way into the middle.  That’s why sheep need safety.

They need the safety of a sheep pen not only to keep the sheep in but perhaps more importantly to keep danger out.  God says that there is only one entrance into His “sheep pen.”  Outside of His sheep pen is only danger and certain death.  Inside is certain safety.  That one entrance to the sheep fold is Jesus, He is the only way of salvation.

But sheep tend to wander.  So, too, do you and I.  We tend to wander away from God’s Word, we tend to wander our way into sin and sinful habits, we tend to wander into dangerous spiritual situations.  We tend to wander away thinking we’re safe on our own.  So we need to be reminded: there is danger, on our own our souls are at risk, we NEED a Shepherd.

And in Christ that’s who we have the Good Shepherd!  A Good Shepherd who laid His life down for us!  He is the gate, the only gate, to true safety and security in God’s sheepfold!  Through trust in Him as our Savior we’re safe!  So, trust in Him!  Listen to Him!  Keep entering through Him!  In Jesus we have the only true, real, certain, eternal security we need for life and death!

Thankful for the Good Shepherd, just like you,

pastor