The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out .... So, Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep .... My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. John 10:3B, 7, 27 (NASB)
The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them. Romans 8:14 (ICB)
Today's thoughts from today's verses:
Yesterday we saw that going through the door of surrender is the key to reaching the open door that leads to "Living Fully for God" and finding the wonderful things God has ready for those who love him. In our John 10 passage, Jesus speaks of himself as "the door of the sheep." This means that when we go through the door of surrender we are embracing Christ for the life he has for us going forward and that we are renouncing the independent, selfish, and sinful use of our lives that has been true of us in the past.
Surrender frees us from being focused on ourselves and living how we want to live. Those who want to follow Christ but don't go through the door of surrender, will be focused more on what God can do for them than how God can use them for his glory. Truly, God created us to exist for him and not him for us. Surrender is about bringing all that we are to God for all that he is so that we can become all he desires us to be.
Jesus says in our John passage that his "sheep hear his voice." When we surrender to Jesus as "the door of the sheep," we will hear his voice calling us by name so he can lead us out to the open door that leads to "Living Fully for God" and finding the wonderful things God has ready for us who love him. Jesus goes on to say of all such people, "I know them, and they follow Me." Life then becomes a series of open doors that we go through and find wonderful thing after wonderful thing that God has prepared for us.
In this life of going through open doors, our focus is more on Christ than the open doors. Our job is to stay in step with him, hear his voice, and follow him through each open door he brings us to. This is how he fully becomes to us "the door of the sheep." The amazing thing about being an actual "follower" of Christ in this way, is that we don't have to worry about finding doors to go through or worry about what is on the other side. We leave all of this to Christ our Good Shepherd and keep on walking with him by faith and allowing him to use us however he sees fit.
Today's prayer response from today's thoughts:
Lord, I sense that somehow it all comes down to the issue of control. Change me into a true follower who lets you be in control. Alter my perspectives in every way so that I am able to view everything as a true follower. Help me go forward in the exciting adventure of going through open doors with complete confidence that you, Lord Jesus, are leading me along step by step. Surrendering myself to a life of being a sheep who hears, follows, and trusts in you Jesus, my Good Shepherd, is a beautiful thing. Amen!
