There is only one way in, through the gate.

Written by Richelle Hecker

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link. 

I don’t always notice the things that are right in front of me. I’ve been known to walk into poles and walls. I’ve gone straight through doors with big signs that say, “Do Not Enter”, and frequently ask questions without seeing that the answer is right there.

This rings true spiritually as well. I can be a slow learner. Sometimes it’s because I don’t listen, and sometimes I just don’t notice what God has obviously placed in my life. I get distracted by the things around me and don’t see the message He has for me. This photo, which my daughter took, reminds me a bit of how we can be at times. We waste time and energy trying to enter His kingdom through our own efforts, before we finally look up and see something like this. Tall weeds all around, loops, and fences of barbed wire and a “No Trespassing” sign. That ought to stop us from going the wrong way! Unfortunately, even that many signs don’t always turn us in the right direction. We may want to get to that good looking pasture so badly that we injure ourselves trying to get in via the wrong way. Jesus wants us to follow Him, not try to enter through our own efforts. 

^“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
John 10:9-10 New American Standard Bible

Don’t be distracted away from the truth by what this world has to offer. There is only one way into God’s kingdom, and that is through Jesus. He paid the price of our sins so that we wouldn’t have to fight through the bramble anymore, which was never going to work for us anyway. We are simply not capable of being good enough to earn our own way into Heaven. There is a far better way to travel than through all of that bramble and barbed wire. Look for Jesus, the gate.