Life to the Fullest.

It's Monday and my second full week on unemployment.  I'd started free falling back into some of my old worldly habits because of all this "free time" I have.  Later in the day when I "found time" for Bible study it would be related to my struggle.  If I'd taken the time with God first I'd have had the tools.  Therefore I've concluded that God must come first.  No food, Facebook or e-mail till my time with God is complete.

Having made that decision yesterday, I was pleased to read the first paragraph of Dr Stanley's devotional.  "In our daily routine, it is easy to live with a worldly mindset. When our thoughts turn away from God, we can become dangerously self-dependent."  

Today's passage was in John 10:7-10 NIV
⁷ Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. ⁹ I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

In verse 9 we read that Jesus is our gate and only through him can one be saved.  The phrase "come in and go out" does not refer to entering and exiting salvation.  A shepherd leads his sheep to an area to graze.  When they go out from the shepherd they will find what they need.  Christ does that for us.  He leads us to a place where he can provide our need.  Our needs are not always what we want, but they will be enough for us to live the life Christ wants for us.

Verse 10 speaks of the thief.  This could be the devil or his demons, the world and its ungodly system, or it could even be our own lusts and desires that drag us away from the Lord.  It's at these times that we must believe the words of Christ.  "I have come that they may of life, and have it to the full."

When an opportunity arises it must be filtered through scripture.  It may not even be a bad thing, but is it what Christ wants for your life?

God Bless.