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Writings of David Chadwell John 10:10 "The thief comes only to
steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it
abundantly."
Jesus declared this statement. In context, he made it to contrast his concern
for people with concerns of those who exploited people. The basic contrasts
declared two realities. (1) Jesus unselfishly focused on the benefits of people
while others focused selfishly on personal benefits. (2) He gave life while
others deserted in the moments of crisis and brought death.
His purposes never exploited people. His purposes brought and gave life freely.
Ultimately, his death would bring life to people.
Today’s Christians often miss the central point. Most of us are unfamiliar with
the relationship between first century sheep and their shepherd. It was founded
on total dependence and absolute trustworthiness. Only when sheep had a
trustworthy shepherd would the relationship work.
Sheep were totally dependent. Without a shepherd, they could not find food. In
fact, they would over-graze an area and literally destroy their food source. A
good shepherd had to be wise enough not to allow over-grazing.
Without a shepherd, sheep seldom found water in arid places. A good shepherd led
them to water. Thirsty sheep in arid places seldom could find water on their
own.
Good shepherds defended sheep. A flock was defenseless without their shepherd.
The only thing they knew to do in crisis was panic! In their panic, sheep
endangered themselves—rather than hurting their enemy, they in their panic hurt
themselves.
A shepherd made it possible for sheep to have life! An excellent, accomplished
shepherd provided a good life for his sheep.
We were made to live. We exist because the Source of Life, God, gave us
existence. By design we were made to live. Life, not death, fulfills our
purpose. It is impossible to diminish life and not diminish us!
Though we do not like to admit it, we are dependent creatures. While we value
life, we do not know the focus of life. We do not understand what we are about.
Left to ourselves, we are prone to selfishness. We do a poor job of considering
future consequences to life. We are so “pleasure” prone and so “lifestyle”
conscious we are vulnerable to “now thinking” as if everything in the future
will continue as it exists in this moment. We do a horrible job of leading
ourselves, focus ourselves, or directing ourselves. We are far, far more likely
to make “self-destruct” choices than wise and insightful choices.
We need someone to guide us who unselfishly has our best-interest as his
priority. We need someone to teach us what life is about. We need someone to
show us how to live. We need a good shepherd, Jesus Christ. He provides life
when death surrounds us.
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Writings of David Chadwell
