Fri Inspiration

Morning Inspiration with Pastor Merritt

Jesus says, “I am the door.” Every single day 6+billion people on this planet choose to walk through doors- doors of marriage, doors of schools, doors of jobs, doors of spending money, having children, or getting a divorce. All those doors carry risks; the risk of marrying the wrong person, going to the wrong school, taking the wrong job. Your life, to this moment, is simply the sum of all the doors you have chosen to walk through.

If you are single, it is because you have chosen for whatever the reason not to walk through the door of marriage or no one has chosen to walk through that door with you. If you are married, the person you are married to is a result of the decision to walk through that person’s door rather than someone else’s. My wife and I had three children, because when it came to walking through the door that said, “four children,” Teresa slammed the door, shut it, locked it and threw away the key! Every day of our life we hope and pray that we are walking through the right door at the right time.

On the other hand, there are teenagers who are going to spend the rest of their life behind bars, because they walked through the wrong doors. There are people today in miserable marriages, because they walked through the wrong door. Just recently I got a heart-crushing letter from a man who may lose his marriage, because he walked through the wrong door. There is nothing more heartbreaking than to walk through what you think is the right door only to find it was a door of danger, defeat, and disillusionment.

It was the job of the shepherd to make sure that the sheep felt secure. Night is when the wolves and the robbers come out to either eat the sheep or steal the sheep. Sheep could only rest if they knew that their shepherd was lying there in front of them protecting them with his very life.

That is what Jesus means when He says,

“If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and go in and out…” (John 10:9)

A timid, frightened sheep would stay in the fold day and night and never go to eat in the pastures chosen by the shepherd, because he would be afraid. The careless, overconfident sheep would remain in the pasture all day and never come back to the fold ignoring the danger. The job of the shepherd was to make sure that the sheep knew it was safe to come in and safe to go out.

That is why every person in this planet needs the door named Jesus. He is the only One that can make it safe for us to go and out of the daily doors of life. How many people today are in abusive relationships because they walked through the wrong door? They either didn’t know God, didn’t consult God, or they just disobeyed God and entered into a relationship knowing it was wrong and walking through a door they knew they should not have walked through.

Maybe you are sitting there today saying, “That’s me.” “I’ve walked through this wrong door in my life.” The good news it is never too late to exit the wrong door and walk through the right door. Listen to His words,

“I am the door. If anyone enter by me.” (John 10:9)

In other words, the door is open. It stays open. You can walk through the door of security anytime you want to knowing that Jesus himself will protect you and provide for you.