"I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." John 10:9

Sheep are RUMINANT. They graze all day ("shall go out to find pasture"). And at its close, they COME IN to rest and chew the cud!

Do YOU? If not, WHY NOT? It is one of His very VITAL COMMANDS!

From morning till night we are out farming, trucking, merchandising, selling, or whatnot for our livelihood. We brush up against harsh facts, and we have concourse with people. We ACT and we REact. We listen, we talk, we have experiences: ALL of this is being OUT of Him and "finding pasture." This world is the PASTURE! All our experiences and contacts and deeds and thoughts and feelings constitute the GRAZING. And, since He made the comparison between sheep and ourselves, we MUST emulate the sheep. We must be RUMINANT! Like the sheep, we must at close of day, lift up the quickly gathered fodder of experience to break it up into very small and assimilable portions. WE chew it over and over to extract its GOOD. Then, it goes into the proper stomach to yield its strength and sustenance.

Are you ruminant? Are you HONEST with yourself in correctly assessing the MOTIVATION for this and that which you did today? Dare you look under the surface to see yourself as God does see you? Have you checked on the language you used throughout the day? Did it consistently dignify the Savior you profess? Have you checked on the Truth of your statements? Or were you full of guile and your mouth of deceit? Have you checked on your experiences – to ascertain their WHYS? Have you honestly scrutinized your conduct (and lack of it) as seen by others, in order to estimate the IMPACT of the "sermon" you have preached this day?

True, you/we cannot very well be PERFECT examples; yet, it is a fairly simple and easy matter to be HONEST, to be TRUTHFUL, and to be considerate of others.

Port of Entry (continued tomorrow...)