MAMMA,” said Charles to his mother after she had been reading to him the tenth chapter of John, “I do not understand a part of what you have been reading.”
“What is it, my child, you do not understand?”
“It is, mama, where Jesus says, ‘I am the door.’ How could Jesus be a door? He was a man when He spoke these words, was He not?”
“Listen, my son, and I will try to explain it to you, so that you may understand it. A great part of the Bible is written in figurative language; that is, it likens the truth it teaches to some well-known object. Thus, in the first Psalm, the ungodly are likened to the chaff which the wind drives away, because the chaff is of no value. And in the 13th chapter of Luke, 32rd verse, Jesus calls King Herod a fox, because he was, in nature, like that animal. And in many places Jesus speaks of Himself in this kind of language, as in the chapter I have now read, where He calls Himself the Good Shepherd. Now, my child, you know Jesus was not a shepherd, but a carpenter, and, therefore He did not mean that He took care of sheep, but that He was like one who did, because He takes care of those who love and serve Him. I pray that you may be one of His lambs too, my boy.”
“But how is He a door, mamma?”
“In this manner, my child; He is the door to heaven. You wish to go there, do you not?”
“Yes, mamma.”
“Then you can only go through Him. The same as to get into this room, you must come in through the door, for He says,
“By Me, if any man enter in he shall be saved.”
Some people think they can get into heaven without Jesus, by doing good works and living good lives. But they are wrong; this will not do; Jesus is THE way, the only Saviour, and you must believe on Him and love Him. And have you not cause to love Him? Did He not leave His bright home above, where He was worshiped by angels, and come down and be born as a little babe, and live a life of sorrow, and at last be put to a cruel death, that we might have our sins forgiven, and be made fit to live with Him forever in heaven? For you know, Charles, God is a holy God, and He could never have sin in His presence, therefore we sinners deserve to be punished; but Jesus has borne the punishment for all who put their trust in Him for salvation. And this is how He is the door.”
“But how must I enter this door, mamma?”
“If you believe in your heart that you are a sinner, as God says you are, and believe that Jesus suffered and died in your place, then you may know you are His lamb. This is how you may enter in.”
ML 06/01/1924