Jesus is the Good Shepherd

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
(John 10:10-11)

Meditation


God puts, in every heart, the desire to seek him. Satan steals that desire and replaces it with earthly pleasures and treasures. Satan is a thief. He will promise you great things, like the temporary pleasures from drugs and alcohol, but when the ‘high’ is over, we’re back where we started. Satan replaces or desire for God to the desire for riches and possessions. Some people do accumulate great wealth but there’s always a catch. No matter how much they gain, it’s never enough, they always want more. They eventually discover that money, power, and possessions do not satisfy the desire God has put in their heart. Satan cannot give anything but empty promises. He doesn’t care if you succeed in life or not, only that you do not seek and serve God. If Satan is successful at distracting you from seeking God, he has essentially killed your soul.
Until I became a teenager, I was seeking to fill that desire for God, but as I went through adolescence, I rebelled and fell into the devil’s grasp. I wasn’t consciously following Satan, but he didn’t care as long as I wasn’t following Jesus Christ. I was lured away from Christ by everything offered by the secular world. I came of age just as the Sexual Revolution was being touted by society. The “free love” ideas were an irresistible attraction for me and I fell into it, lock, stock, and barrel. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was only seeking to fill the void in my heart. However, no matter what I did, no matter who I was with, that emptiness was never satisfied. Finally, when I was in one of my many low points, Jesus lifted me out of my despair.
Eventually, some sinners, like me, realize Satan has stolen all their hopes, killed all their dreams and destroyed their lives. Jesus wants only to save our souls. He wants to give us greater hopes than we could ever imagine. He wants to make our dreams of happiness a reality and he wants to restore our broken lives back to whole. Cattle and livestock are driven from behind to get where they need to be. A shepherd leads his flocks from the front. The sheep know his voice and follow. Jesus will always lead us, just like a shepherd leads his sheep, to righteousness. He leads us by the example of his life while he was here. He not only showed us how to live, but what real sacrifice is. He offered himself up to the cross that we might have life and have it abundantly.




Prayer Time

Lord of heaven and earth, you offer us so much. You give us a peace that goes beyond understanding, a love that knows no bounds, and a plan for life with more purpose than just acquiring more stuff. Thank you, Father, for those gifts and for the greatest of all gifts, Jesus Christ, who came into the world as a sacrificial lamb. It was his blood that was spilled to cleanse us of our iniquities. By contrast, the Liar and Father of lies, only wants to take as many of us to hell with his as possible. He comes to steal our happiness, kill our desire for righteousness, and finally destroy our souls. Father you have given us a physical life that you sustain and provide for, but you also have given us a spiritual need as well. Help us to seek nourishment for our souls as we walk in fellowship with Jesus. It’s only by his blood that we are washed clean. Thank you, Father, for your plan of redemption that gives us a way to come to you in righteousness. In the only name that saves us, we pray. Amen!

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