"Parable of the Good Shepherd"

 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." (John 10:1 KJV)

  "The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need." (Psalm 23:1 NLT) 

 "Parable is life," in the simplest form; A story dealing with the visible world around us, to illustrate a moral or spiritual truth. This might be the first and only parable recorded in the Gospel of John, the majority references John alludes to are basically Jesus speaking figuratively, which is not really a parable, but more like a character reference or a proverb.

 Basically the "door" is meant to be, 'the Way of passage,' which, in the case of salvation, for all that really want to be saved, means that there is only One Door, because Jesus clearly said door, not doors! I can remember very vividly seeing this played out in my mind, as I was reading this for the first time when I was first saved. I pictured all of those people I knew from my J.W. days of my youth, sneaking around the sheepfold, trying to find another way in; literally! 

 If you think I am kidding, I'm not! To them, most of them, just the thought of Jesus Christ being the way, is not only offensive, but sets them off and causes them sometimes to get physically upset. That might not mean much to most of you that hear me say that, but having tried reasonably to share Jesus as the only way, is really not only hard, but it sometimes got confrontational and ugly.  

 As Jesus illustrates here, the term, "thief and a robber," is that person who really does not care about anything but their own gain; "what's in it for me," is that which is first and last, in just about every single thing that they do. I know that sounds very judgmental, but I haven't seen anyone that is the least bit faithful to the 'W.T.B.&T.S.', if you say anything to upset their comfort or challenge what they believe, that, then, you have become the enemy. 

 Besides that, we have another issue creeping into the church, as those who are of the J.W. persuasion will most likely never step into a church, those that are living an alternative lifestyle will and are making their way into the church, and the ulterior motive is the same. Sadly, some churches are going along with it, for the sake of tolerance and in the name of love. 

 Last I checked, the church is meant to be a light to the world; the world is not to overtake or darken the church. But I guess this is the 20th century, so those rules don't apply anymore...

"What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are never content." (Ecclesiastes 1:3-8 NLT)