IN THE PASSAGE we have been considering there is this sentence: “I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9). Will go in and out and find pasture.
Four things are there: “enters by me”—a sense of belonging; “will go in”—will find security; “and out”—adventure; “and find pasture”—satisfaction. Four things are promised: belonging, security, adventure, and satisfaction. Basically we need those four things.
Psychologists say that all human nature has three basic needs: the need to belong; the need for significance; and the need for reasonable security. Here Jesus added a fourth—the need for satisfaction. We shall make our own four needs.
The first need is the need to belong. The delinquent child turns delinquent because he has no sense of belonging. Ninety-five percent of delinquent children come from broken homes—they don’t belong. The central sickness of the world is that,
but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hid his face from you
so that he does not hear. (Isa. 59:2)
The sickness of the world is homesickness—homesickness for God. There is a sense of orphanage, of estrangement, of being lost. That first need is met when you are in Christ—you belong. You belong not to the marginal or ephemeral, but to reality—ultimate reality.
The second need is security—“will go in.” You have the security of a fold—in Christ—of which Almighty Love is the keeper. Compared to this all other securities are insecure. This is “a kingdom that cannot be shaken”—the unshakable kingdom (Heb. 12:28).
Dear Father, in the fold of Thy Son we belong and are secure. We are in, and the in has ultimate meaning. The security has ultimate security. We are now at home. Fears and tensions drop away. Finding Thee we have found all. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: My first, last, and intermediate business is to belong to Christ.
