John 10 is filled with the words of Jesus as He describes Himself as the Good Shepherd. He says that His sheep know Him and can recognize His voice. The sheep follow Him and they will never perish. It is a beautiful depiction of the kind of relationship we have with Jesus as His followers. After describing Himself as the gate for the sheep where He only allows the sheep to enter, He strategically puts in verse 10. We started to look at this verse last week. I want to continue to saturate on the meaning of this verse.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” John 10:10.
According to Jesus, the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy everything good in our life. He wants to destroy our family, our job, our joy, our health, our finances, our marriage, our kids, and so on. He just wants to ruin anything he can.
The word “thief” comes from the Greek word klepto, which means to steal. It describes someone who is so good at what he does that you don’t realize that he has done it. It depicts a pickpocket who can slip their hand in your pocket, take what they want, and be long gone before you discover they were even there.
Jesus uses this word to let us know how cunning the devil really is. He knows that if he does it in plain sight that he will be recognized for who he is. His plans are always deceptive and his goal is always evil. He injects thoughts into a person’s mind to steal his peace, his joy, and even his beliefs. He steals everything he is not capable of receiving or giving himself. His name is where we get the word kleptomaniac. It describes a person with a persistent, neurotic impulse to steal. It is the very nature of the devil and he is only living up to his nature.
Not only does the thief come to steal but he comes to kill. At first glance, you would think that it means to physically take someone’s life. The Greek word for kill is thuo which means sacrifice. To take it further, it could mean to sacrifice, to surrender, or even to give something up that is dear to your heart. Jesus is saying that if the thief hasn’t already walked away with everything we hold close to our heart, he will try to convince us that we need to sacrifice or give up everything he wasn’t able to take from us.
The devil can’t stand the fact that you possess something he can never have. So if he can’t steal it from you, he will try to convince you to give it up on your own. He may even try to create stressful situations that cause you to conclude that your only solution is to sacrifice some things that are for you.
Finally, the devil wants to destroy, which carries the idea of something that is ruined, wasted, or trashed. So, if the thief is unsuccessful in his attempts to steal from you or convince you to sacrifice what you hold dear, he will then try to ruin it!
So the enemy is trying to totally obliterate you and he will not stop until he does. But don’t lose hope, Jesus has won the war. Commit the battles you face to Him and He will put the devil in his place. Don’t lose heart. Trust in God and spend time saturating in His Word so you can be more alert in the spiritual realm. God is more than able to defeat the devil’s schemes in your life.
This Sunday we will be finishing up our series in Daniel by answering the question, “Are we in the last days?” Come and worship the Lord and bring someone with you the Lord lays on your heart.
Joy in Jesus!
Pastor Mike
www.findlayfirstnaz.org
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