John 10:9-10 I am the door. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come, except to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.
There is a common question I hear on Facebook and chain messages. “If Jesus knocked at your door, would you recognize Him?’ The real question is if you knocked on His door would He let you in?
Knocking on the door
When you visit family or friends and ring the buzzer at the gate a reasonable person would check to see if they recognize the vehicle or the person driving before pressing the button to open the gate? Back then when Jesus taught this parable there weren't alarm systems or password-protected locks. It was a person on watch at the pen where the sheep would be kept when not grazing. This person would only let people in and out that was allowed to be there.
Jesus tied this parable into the one before which he states that the sheep themselves would only follow the voice they recognize as their shepherd. If anyone else called, a sheep would not follow that voice.
Guided by grace
These parables speak to one of the wondrous mysteries of salvation in Jesus Christ. That we can know our saviour. That He guides His people by His Holy Spirit and speaks to us through His word. As sheep, we are completely dependent on Him and He gives us discernment to recognize truth from lies when we truly practice and live in dependence on Him and His grace in our lives.
Jesus came that we may have life and He declared clearly that He is the way to reconciliation with God and the forgiveness of sins. This is what it means to have life in abundance to know our Lord and Savior and to live closer to our purpose as human beings. To live under the guidance and goodness of our King, it certainly does not refer to physical wealth.
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