Sheep don’t know a gate from a fence row. As a midwestern sheep farmer, I can tell you this for certain. A recent run-in with a wayward sheep proves my point. Because the proverbial grass is always greener on the other side, our sheep are constantly stretching their necks to try to nibble the grass outside the fence. Occasionally, one will barrel through the wire to get to the “good stuff” she’s been denied.
So it was that we discovered one of our sheep outside the pen one hot day this summer. The solution should have been easy. We simply opened the gate. But due to stubbornness or oblivion, the ewe remained outside the fold. We called and whooped, summoning her back to the comfort and safety of her flock. Instead, she kept ramming herself into the fence. Time and time again. The gate was wide open, but she defaulted to futile attempts to make her own way.
Creation is constantly teaching us (Romans 1:20), and when it comes to revealing who Jesus is, sheep are especially good instructors. No wonder Jesus frequently asked us to envision sheep pens as He revealed His identity as “the gate for the sheep” (John 10:7). Long before Jesus spoke these words, David, once a shepherd, saw the character of the Lord (and his own identity) illustrated through his flock: “The LORD is my shepherd; I have what I need” (Psalm 23:1).
The theme woven throughout Scripture is this: we are like sheep, prone to wander from the fold in search of false hope that can never fully satisfy. Because our Shepherd is good, the gate to salvation is open, but we’ll never find it on our own. We try to be self-sufficient, to do all the good deeds, and we may even convince ourselves for a time that we’ve got our stuff together more than someone else. But the reality is, when left to our own devices, we will just keep ramming ourselves up against false hope and good intentions.
Jesus shows us the gate—no, actually, Jesus is the gate. He is the way. Listen for His call. Submit to His leading. Quit stubbornly ramming yourself up against your own plans. Instead, look to Jesus and enter in. He whispers to us, “I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture” (John 10:9).
Leave a Reply
40 thoughts on "I Am the Gate for the Sheep"
What a perfect example of human – ness and why we desperately need a Savior!
I am thankful for this devotion and the side notes of real-life example that the writer described. Sheep could be destructive too, not just naïve. So was I- when left alone on my own course. Broad is the way that leads to destruction. When having no guidance, tossed by every waves of doctrines, vain philosophies and lifestyles of the world, going with the flow seemingly is like a safe choice for most. BUT IT IS NOT! I see this as a warning not to go with the flow, but to follow the voice of God.
“If anyone enters by Jesus, he will be saved and go in and out, and FIND pasture” (food). I love how this verse accounts for wiggle room, to explore under the supervision of the Shepherd.
But small is the gate and NARROW AND DIFFICULT to travel is the path that leads the way to everlasting life, and there are FEW who find it (Matthew 7:14).
With His help, may we all be able to navigate successfully through this narrow and difficult path. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
❤️
❤
This time of waiting that we all are going through brings today’s verses a new meaning. The pandemic has restricted us, but I’ve found these restrictions have really brought freedom to me. No makeup, no time restraints, and no planner to keep up with has left time to just rest in my identity in Christ Jesus and in his protection that is so comforting. I am enjoying time in his green pastures.
I’m realizing tonight that fence I keep ramming into, is addiction. That fence of God, alcohol, and shopping. Trying to numb my emotion just rams that emotion down and leads only to depression and anxiety! I must turn to God first, ask where does my heart lay with the lord? Every time it is Jesus who brings the joy. Gods way us not always the easy way, but it is the best way!
Amy, it’s been four years since you wrote this. I want you to know I just prayed for you as I am just now completing this study.
So I’m realizing tonight that fence I keep ramming into, is addiction. The trap of food d, alcohol, and shopping. The
I’m the oblivious sheep when left to my own devices I seek pasture in friendships, marriage, parenting and I ran my head over and over with all my might as I try to find rest in my own strength.
Lord help me to listen and hear your voice, call me by name. I want to know your voice so intimately that the voices of other (even well intentioned) strangers would drive me closer to you, that I wouldn’t continue to wander for the greener grass. Lead me. ♥️
The real life example of the ewe ramming into the fence regardless of the open gate nearby really made the whole lesson sink it! It’s crazy that we are just like that with the things of this world.
“Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love” keeps playing on repeat in my head. Amen!
“Quit stubbornly ramming yourself up
against your own plans.” This year has been a year of total surrender for my husband and I. God had brought things our way that I NEVER would have expected, yet we have seen his grace through all of it. I’m done trying to “plan out” how I want my life to go. This year has brought so many things that I didn’t think I “wanted”, yet watching God use them for HIS glory has opened my eyes to see that His ways truly are better than ours♥️
Ezekiel 34:31 gives me such a sense of belonging “you are my sheep, my human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God”
The reminder that we often run into the fence trying to make our own way is such a simple truth but it speaks multitudes. We cannot find a way to God on our own, Jesus must be the gate we walk through. He’s always open ready to accept who we are and wherever we’ve wandered to but he wants to bring us into the fold to safety. It’s also a great reminder that we can’t bring people into the fold, only He can because he is the gate. We can call out and give signs and name noises but when we try too hard to get others to come to Christianity they will often become distracted and try to make their own way through the fence. He is the only way.
So good. Thank you!!
Thank you Lord for having me lie on green pastures. Being my shepherd and going before me in everything I do.
This is so good! It reminds me to keep trusting in the Lord no matter what and stop leaning on my own understanding. It’s hard sometimes but I’m going to remember this study next time I want to make my own plans. Love this.
I hadn’t noticed before that throughout scripture the sheep are described as going out and coming in – all with their shepherd. I’d always focused on the salvation part of being in the gate. But Jesus guides us into the gate for safety, and out into pasture for adventure, enjoyment, nourishment, and for His calling and will. The key is staying within the reach of His voice! But also thank you that He loves us enough to go find us when we’ve gone beyond it. Loved the combination of scriptures today!
❤️
Thank you Lord for speaking to me and letting me know your voice.
These verses stood out to me (John 10:4-5) and reminded me of my own run-in with sheep. I’ll share the story below the verses:
4 When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will never follow a stranger; instead, they will run away from him, because they don’t know the voice of strangers.
I had to watch sheep for friends while they were out of town. During one of my watches, the sheep broke out…at NIGHT. Trying to get them back into their pen and to keep them from eating all the vegetation in my friend’s yard was a nightmare. I had no idea how to wrangle the sheep back in and they knew it! All my attempts involved running at them, waving my hands to hopefully guide them back into the gate. They saw me coming and immediately darted off. Soon, I was exhausted and the yard was being destroyed.
I had a friend next door to me who came to my rescue. Carrying a large bale of hay, he called to the sheep and they immediately flocked to him. They followed him into the gate and we were able to secure them there.
After I calmed down from this situation, those verses came to me. I practically lived a real-life situation of John 10:4-5.
This situation reminded me to always listen to Jesus’s voice over others. I often listen to the voice of stress, anxiety, negative opinions of others, and it has me running everywhere, sometimes feeling very lost. But when I listen to Jesus’s voice, I am led in the right direction.
Jesus is my shepherd and he knows what is best for me. I must always follow him :)
❤️
❤️
Love ur real life example!
I don’t want to be wandering. I know what it’s like to be searching and searching and not finding. I was 17 years old when Jesus became the Lord of my life. Through ups and downs and searching and wandering I just can’t see my life without Jesus. And at times it may seem like it might be the harder way or more the challenging way especially when it comes to waiting but having been where I’ve been the hardships in life I can’t see any other way but to follow Jesus. I want to be the sheep that listens to HIS VOICE. No other.
Erin, having raised my own sheep as a teenager your words brought back memories of sheering and feeding and sweet baby lambs. Sheep are not smart and easily led by each other. But,when their master is loving and cares for them they follow and are comforted by the voice they know tends to them. Lord help me to listen only for your voice and follow you and to see the path you have put before me Jesus so that I can enter through you and with you with love and abounding joy. Praise to our God ladies who is the Way.
I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
This doesn’t fit with the writer’s stubborn sheep story but here we go. God wants us, desires for us to have life and have it in abundance. It doesn’t say He wants this only in Heaven. He wants it now for all of His sheep.
How does one have life and have it in abundance? Well, I use to wonder about that and wonder if I was there or not. I know now that it is through studying and applying God’s Word. Deep study and obedience. Forgive that person that hurt us. Give to others and then give some more. Let the reason for your joy be on your lips. Love God. Love others. Move from thoughts and words to actions.
My mother used to tell me to call people by name because they love to hear their name. There is something about being called by name that is special. When I come to my quiet place in the morning to greet my Lord and He welcomes me by name it stirs my soul. He looks me in the eye and calls me by my name. Yes, Lord, I hear your voice. Good morning and welcome to this day that we will spend together.
This morning I had the thought that I will never have to say ‘goodbye’ to Him. I never thought about that before. I hate saying goodbye. It always makes me sad, but I can say hello to Jesus every morning forever. How awesome is that!!
Good morning to you, too, my friends! Have a great day!
I love this! We will never say goodbye to Jesus, & He will never say goodbye to us!
Thankful for my Shepherd. Let me always know His voice. Amen.
My Shepherd and Gate.
You take care of me.
You lock me in at night for protection
and take me out through You in the morning
to the pastures You have chosen for me.
I long for the day that Churchmouse speaks of when consistently I do not look to other pastures or places.
My head knows I am in the best place when with my Shepherd,
Yet, sometimes, something in me gets distracted by things where I am not –
Like Paul, I seem to not do the good I want to do and do the evil I do not want to do.
Instead of being in the best place, I allow myself to go to the easy place, most alluring, or seemingly most pressing at that time.
My head rams the fence over and over again
or I try to push my way over or under,
sometimes to get out,
sometimes to get back to where I belong.
If I would just stop and listen for my name being called by the Shepherd, I will hear Him.
I will know the direction to go.
If I would stop and look, change my focus from the grass, or my friend sheep on the other side and focus on my Shepherd, the provider of all I need, I will see the Opening He has made for me.
Like dumb sheep…I make mistakes
My Shepherd is patient and loving
and, I am learning and getting better,
day by day. The nearer I stay to him, the better it always is.
And, I give thanks to the LORD
for his faithful love endures forever.
He hears me in my distress.
He is my faithful refuge,
My strength and my song,
He is my Salvation.
So when you hear worship and praise being blasted out over the hills and look up,
You will see The Shepherd,
with me, His lost sheep lovingly held, securely around his shoulders
being brought home
singing at the top of her lungs
for His faithful love endures forever
and I am His.
Beautiful…me too Angie
❤️
Beautiful! You write so well!
This also reminds me of Matthew 7:13-14. Enter through the narrow gate!
Thank you for the real life sheep example Erin. I can relate with it and the many times of ramming the fence with my own strength when the gate is already wide open.
I most definitely am a sheep. Jesus most definitely is the Shepherd. How grateful I am that He whooped and hollered at my soul to bring me to and through His gate (Himself)! Even when I read away and give myself a headache from ramming against the fence of His will trying desperately to try my way instead, He seeks me, leads me, and welcomes me back to Himself. His faithful love endures forever!
I’m impacted once again by John 10:4-5. The sheep know the voice of their shepherd and they follow that voice. They don’t trust or follow the voice of a stranger. It must be so with me and thus, why I study the Bible. I know Jesus is the gate and my good Shepherd. Jesus is the only way to salvation and it is His voice and His alone that I can trust. There are many voices clamoring around me, trying to get my attention, tempting me this way and that. I am not deterred because I know the voice of Jesus. He speaks to me through His Word. I hear Him most clearly the more I listen, the more time I spend in the pages of my Bible. Other pastures do not tempt me because I know I’m already in the best one. I recognize false teachers more readily because I know the voice and the teaching of the Truth. What’s even more remarkable is that Jesus knows me by name, my own name. We have a personal relationship. He calls and He leads me out. I stay close so that even when He whispers I hear His voice and am strengthened. Oh the sweetness of my quiet time, inside the gate of my Good Shepherd and then out as He leads me. Speak, Lord. How I love to hear your voice.
Love this Churchmouse! That’s one of the things I look forward to when I go to bed is my quiet time in the morning. Just me and Jesus.
Yes! Exactly how I feel too. The intimacy we experience with our Father is amazing and such a gift. It’s what makes Christianity a relationship versus a religion or a list of rules. So grateful for the gift!
My pastor and some of the other pastors from the different campuses are doing an 8 week study called, The Lord is My Shepherd. It’s been so good! Before he starts teaching, we stand and read Psalm 23 aloud from the King James translation. If you want to listen go to maog.org and hit listen live, go down to where it says, archive videos, and start at the first Sunday in September. You can forward through the worship or praise along with them. He truly is our Good Shepherd that laid down His Life for each of us! He is worthy of all praise, glory, and honor!
https://youtu.be/-c6pl6CaiD0