“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 10:2 in the King James Version of the Holy Bible). Reading this scripture reminds me of something that happened to us while on vacation a few summers ago. We were in the Gatlinburg, Tennessee area with my mother-in-law and decided that we would go into town and watch a family comedy show. My husband had purchased the tickets for us. He dropped us close to the door so that his mother wouldn’t have to walk too far. Stephen, our mentally handicapped son jumped out of the car as I was helping Mom. I realized that Stephen had disappeared from my sight. My husband came and the search was on for him. He was not in any of the surrounding shops or bathrooms; my heart sank as the crowd closed in. I went to a lady at the door checking tickets and asked if there was any way he could have gotten past without a ticket and she assured me it wasn’t possible. Finally, I told her what he was wearing and asked her to please look for him. We eventually found him sitting close to the back of the theater just waiting for the show to begin. We still don’t know how he did it, but he there he was! There are a lot of people trying to sneak into the church without paying the price of obedience to the voice of the Good Shepherd. Jesus called these “Sheepfold Sneaks” out as thieves and robbers.

Prayer: Lord, I’m so thankful to be in Your fold under Your care. I want to submit willingly to my Great Shepherd who has my best interest at heart.

Devotion by Kaye Singleton