The thief comes ONLY to...

John 10:10 reads... "The thief comes to only to steal and kill and destroy..." (TNIV)

I have had this verse on my mind for almost a month now. It surfaced while I was in Mexico with a team that was serving down there and we were debriefing how powerful that particular day was and how life giving it was to each one of us, then I felt as if God said; "the thief is going to come to steal, kill and destroy whatever you are feeling, experiencing and learning".

It is true... Some of what I experienced that week has been stolen away, but I'm working hard to keep what I have learned about myself and God out in front of me. But this isn't so much about me... This is really about how much we allow the thief to steal.

I know when I think of a thief I tend to think about him stealing the big things in my life, which is sometimes true. However I believe that he is much more successful in the small things. Maybe it's when we find ourselves saying something about someone that we know we shouldn't, maybe it is when we mishandle a parenting moment, maybe it is when we have the perfect opportunity to share Christ with someone and don't, maybe it's when we find ourselves in a moments of doubt about God or ourselves, etc.

Most of the time it is subtle, but we allow the thief to come and steal something we value like honesty and truth telling, like positive parenting, like treating others like we want to be treated.

It is so easy let the thief come in and steal something that we may not notice is gone at first only to realize that it is killing a relationship and/or destroyed trust.

What is it the thief is stealing, killing and destroying? Is it your values, emotions, spiritual life, mind, eyes? For me the thief tends to steal my relationship with God which has a cascading affect on all other areas of my life. The thief loves to whisper things to me like; "Your not good enough", "That didn't happen", "What would people think", "Don't tell anyone"...

The reality is that the thief is only here for one reason, the question is what is he whispering and stealing in the process?

I'd love to hear your thoughts...
(I'll discuss the rest of this verse next week)