I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. (ESV)

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. (NIV)

Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. (NLT)

Dive Deeper:

Do you knock? Wiggle the doorknob? Let yourself in? Peek around back for a window left cracked open? Maybe you’ve even got the key in your pocket. Whatever it may be, how you enter a house says a great deal about who you are and what you’re doing there.

A stranger might hesitate at the porch. A thief comes at night, slipping through the side window. A dinner guest knocks politely at the front door, waiting to be let in. But a best friend? A child? They walk right in, no questions asked. You enter as you please. 

You see, the way you enter a place reveals your relationship with the owner of the house. Your confidence and your comfort both reflect your standing with them. This is what I think Jesus is getting at in John 10.

He says the ones who sneak over the fence are thieves and robbers. But rather those who enter through the gate? They belong. They’re known. Welcomed in.

Jesus is the door. 

When you have a deep, true friendship with Him, you know, that type of relationship where your sins are washed away forever, you can enter in. You don’t need to knock. You don’t have to climb through windows or even try to earn your way in. You walk straight through the front door with freedom like a child.

That’s the power of true friendship with Jesus. Through Him, we are saved. Through Him, we are adopted as sons and daughters. And through Him, we gain the kind of standing that lets us come and go freely, never wondering if we belong. 

Because at our Father’s house, we don’t wait at the door—we walk right in as children.

How do you enter in?

Written by Blake Stanley