Good morning. Today is Friday, September 18th!

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📖 Verse Of The Day

— John 10:10

🧠 Devotional

John 10:10 is one of the most quoted verses in the Bible:

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Most people hear “the thief” and immediately think of Satan. That makes sense. Jesus calls the devil “the father of lies” in John 8:44, and 1 Peter 5:8 describes him as an enemy prowling around “like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

But there’s more happening in John 10.

Read from the beginning and Jesus is talking about sheep and shepherds. There are thieves climbing into the sheep pen, strangers whose voices the sheep don’t recognize, and hired hands who run away when the wolf comes.

Then comes John 10:10.

The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.

And in the very next verse Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

That’s the contrast.

Bad shepherds use the sheep for themselves. Jesus gives Himself for the sheep.

That also makes John 10:10 a little different from the way it sometimes gets used today. A flat tire isn’t necessarily Satan trying to “steal your joy.” Losing a job doesn’t automatically mean the enemy stole it. Jesus isn’t giving Christians a phrase to attach to everything that goes wrong.

He’s teaching His sheep to recognize who is worth following.

And there are still plenty of voices asking to be followed.

Some promise happiness. Others promise money, approval, pleasure, status, or an easier life. Something can sound good and still lead somewhere God never intended.

Jesus gives His followers a way to tell the difference.

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” — John 10:27

Sheep recognize their shepherd because they know his voice.

Christians should know Jesus the same way. The more familiar His words become, the easier it is to recognize something that doesn’t line up with them. That’s one reason reading Scripture matters. It’s hard to recognize the Shepherd’s voice if His words are rarely heard.

And John 10 doesn’t end with Jesus simply warning His sheep about thieves.

He says He knows them. He gives them eternal life. And in verse 28 He says, “no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.

The Good Shepherd came to give life.

Know the Shepherd well enough to know His voice.