Life, Abundant
Raising the stakes
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The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.
John 10:10 (NET)
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Jesus isn’t mincing words here.
He lays it all out.
The Enemy wants to destroy all that is good, in defiance of God.
I talked yesterday about the little sins that creep up. The ones that I must keep guard lest they attack my heart.
Well, this one talks about the real stakes and why it’s so important to keep my guard up.
Because we have a real enemy, a sneaky enemy, that wants to steal, kill, and destroy.
Suddenly, those little temptations aren’t so little.
But, of course, there’s good news.
(The Gospel means Good News.)
Jesus came, not to give us a fighting chance, but to give us something much, much better:
Life, abundant.
I mean, as a direct comparison to “steal, kill, and destroy” this is the obvious choice.
Of course it’s more than that.
It’s a restored relationship with the loving God of the universe. The One who breathed life into humanity, who formed us out of the dust of the ground, who loved us so much that He sent His only Son to act as punishment for our sin so that we could have this abundant life.
I never get over that amazing story of grace.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2025 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV®Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright© 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
