John 10.1-10
10“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit.2The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.4When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.5They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”6Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.7So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.8All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.9I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
Thoughts: That they might have life and have it abundantly! That's what I want, I want to have life and have it abundantly. But then I realize that for Jesus to have life is to 'lose' one's life. To have abundance means that one offers oneself for the other. This shepherd whose voice sounds so dear and sweet in our ears is also the one who will bid us to take up our cross and follow him. Yet this shepherd is also the gate...the very entrance point between earth and heave--may we all have that moment of glory to hear him call us by name!
Quesions: Think a little and answer the question what does it really mean to have life and have it abundantly? Would you have answered the same way 25 or 30 years ago?
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