This “cliff note” idea is not meant to be a definitive commentary of these verses. What I see now is just that — what I see now, I spend each day between posts reading and re-reading the current verses. I’m concentrating on looking for what catches my interest enough to make me ask “is this the truth I believe?” My confidence is in one important thing; the Spirit of God is at work. He’s the door opener. AND I want to get it right. When I “ink” what I think I know, in plain sight for you to read, it’s a risk of obedience. I know the Spirit’s work is to teach AND correct. That’s not an either/or it’s an AND.
Today’s notes are about the Shepherd, the Gatekeeper, the Father and the sheep that recognize them. The Gatekeeper is the guard, the Shepherd manages the sheep and His charge from the Father is to find the “sheep that are not of this fold…so there will be one flock, one Shepherd.” That’s spot on! However, I wondered why I’d ignored the last three verses of this chosen passage and realized I didn’t want them to mess up all that lovely truth-teaching with the hard fact of division and doubt. That’s when the “teach AND correct” kicked in. Sometimes it’s the ugly Words that remind me how much I need the Shepherd, the Gatekeeper and the Father to open my own eyes so I can recognize division is the thief and robber who will never “open the eyes of the blind.”
Read and Ponder - Faith in Daily Life 