Fourth Sunday of Easter
A – 2020
INTRO:
I have been in a car before as the driver and many times ……. the “back street driver person” next to me all of a sudden says…..
“Hey, Jim, I know a shortcut…. Don’t go that way.”
I hate shortcuts!
Part of it is I am somewhat COMPULSIVE (no comments out there) and have the drive all planned out in a specific way and I don’t like to re-arrange the plan.
Some of it is though I feel that taking a short cut is taking the easy way out and maybe “cheating a bit”!
That’s just me.
I’m bringing this up today because the easy way IN LIFE is not the best way. We should not be choosing the shortcuts because it’s easier and / or because we think we know better.
Jesus wanted a COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS; he actually wanted EVERY KNOWN PERSON at the time of His PUBLIC MINISTRY to join HIM leading them through the gate into the sheepfold. There were so many different groups during His time:
Pharisees
Sadducees
Samaritans
Jews
Gentiles
All doing their own thing
His idea was … let’s just all do this together … one BIG united happy family of believers.
He alliterated this by saying today:
COME IN THROUGH THE GATE and let’s be together. Anyone who “takes the shortcut” and enters NOT THROUGH THE GATE, but, climbs over elsewhere, is someone who wants to do their own thing, in their own way, not FOLLOWING the Shepherd and His ways!
He will say elsewhere… IT’S A NARROW GATE, too, sometimes not easy to enter, but, those that do are going to be just fine!
So ….. SHORTCUTS!!!!!!!!!!!! ??????????
Just not a good thing …. in terms of being; CHURCH. We are to be united, following the Shepherd His way…. He is in the driver’s seat!
The easy way for being a CHRISTIAN in the world today, which I determine as a shortcut, is following your own church rules or making them up as you go along to fit your ideas, not fully living as the church group that JESUS planned for us with His rules and ways.
CONCLUSION
Follow the church rules, even when they are not easy. You will have life more abundantly doing so.