The Thief

In the same paragraph where Jesus says that He wants us to have a wonderful life, He tells us also that there is a villain who opposes us. He calls him “the Thief”. Jesus says that thief comes only to do three things: Kill, steal, and destroy.

I’m going to guess that you’ve encountered this “guy” by now,  and you also found out he’s pretty shrewd.  “The Thief”.  You’ve been ripped off by him over the years. Have you had your joy stolen a time or two? Your hope? Your faith?  Even your love?  Guess who was helping out with all that? Yep- the thief.

I’ve been royally ripped off before. My personal checking and my business checking accounts were both cleaned out in one evening because some shrewd person stole my info from my bank. That was a horrible, vulnerable feeling. I never found out who did it or how they pulled it off. They cleverly operated from the shadows.

The thief Jesus mentioned doesn’t want you to discover how he’s been ripping you off and stealing from you either.

You know what’s even more scary?  When people agree that the thief has been doing this, but decide it’s too much work to learn how to make it stop.  “I know he’s stealing from me, but it’s too big a problem to try and fix it. I don’t know how.” 

It’s mystifying that some people do that with their private pain which continues to sting them over and over. Why would any person be ok with that?  Part of the answer is that the thief convinces them that it can never be remedied.

Are you one of those people? Do you know someone else who is trapped in this kind of lie?

The Resurrection of Jesus can undo the power of everything evil, including death itself.   Lean in to this truth with all your might.