Abundant Life

I sat around today in a family gathering and people were exchanging gifts.  Don’t know what that was all about.

What it triggered off though was an amazing gift a man, who wasn’t born anywhere near this date, spoke of to some listeners.  The context is important.  He was talking of how a good shepherd looks after his sheep and how they have access to safety through the gate. While He was talking among what he mentioned he referred to a thief that only came to steal, kill and destroy.

A day like today reminds me of the destruction that is taking place across peoples lives in one way or another.  The level of devastation can be as horrific and evident as the bombing of some church buildings in Nigeria.  It can be as subtle as the people who have been intimidated by the pressures of life to conform and so have the external trappings of success with innter grief and lack of peace.

I know of what I speak.  I know what it is to suffer internal heartache whilst the outside world looks great.  I know what it is to be lonely, alienated and an awkward misfit.  That is why the words of the man who was speaking of the thief have become so important to experiencing what the real meaning of life is.  These words regard a gift that is to celebrated every day of life both now and forever.  These words regard now a lifestyle that revolutionises whatever the world has to offer.  These words are still offered to anyone who would accept them as I am overjoyed to accept them one day some time ago.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (Jesus)

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd