Viewpoint
By Randy Cole
Making Disciples by Shepherding
The Abundant Life
John 10:10-11 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."(NASB)
So far in this series, we have covered the Sheep Fold, the Sheep Pen, the Door, the Voice, and your Comfort Zone. The next aspect of "shepherding" that we'll unpack is the concept of the Abundant Life.
John 10:10 tells us that the "thief comes to steal, kill and destroy". The first thing that we need to discover - what is the thief trying to steal? What is he trying to kill? What is he trying to destroy? To help us find the answers, let's look at a case study from the book of Joshua.
In Joshua chapters 1-6, the nation of Israel was "on a roll":
- They had a new leader - Joshua - who was exalted by God in the sight of all Israel (Joshua 4:14)
- Israel crossed the Jordan River, obeying all of God's commands in the process. (Joshua 4:8,10,18)
- God "melted the hearts" of the Canaanites, so that they were in fear of God and the nation of Israel. (Joshua 2:24, Joshua 5:1)
- Israel obeyed God's commands and dedicated themselves to God through the ritual of circumcision. (Joshua 5:2,8)
- Joshua had a face-to-face encounter with the Lord, and the Lord "delivered Jericho unto his hands" (Joshua 5: 13 - 6:2).
- Israel defeated, ransacked, and burned Jericho - the city that was supposed to be "impossible" to defeat. Israel submitted to and obeyed God's commands completely, even though they might have been "silly" for an army to obey. (Joshua 6)
- The concluding verse of Joshua chapter 6 says: "The Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land".
Joshua and the nation of Israel were having that proverbial "mountaintop" experience. But the thief is poised to strike at exactly these kinds of times. Look at the very next verse, Joshua 7:1 - "But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things......So the Lord's anger burned against Israel".
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