To Encourage You

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”

Do you realize that if you don’t know Christ your life is being stolen from you at this very moment?  The verse above tells us that “the thief,” i.e., the devil, has three very specific objectives, and ONLY these three – to steal, kill, and destroy.  And because he is the master deceiver, he does all this while those who are being robbed, killed, and destroyed have no idea that it’s going on.  Worse – they actually think that they are better off in their condition.  Jesus warned us of this fact with this rhetorical question: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul (Mark 8:36).”  Obviously, the answer is “nothing.”  Elsewhere Jesus said “For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away (Matthew 13:12).”  “The one who has” in this verse is the one who has Christ, for the one who has Him has everything – much of it at this very moment – but all of it in eternity.  On the other hand, even the things gained by those who don’t know Christ, all the money, the fame, the pleasures, the relationships, everything, will be taken away, forever, in the end.  I hate the devil.  I hate what he is doing to the people I love.  I hate his schemes.  In fact, I hate everything about him.  But the worst of it all is that those who give no thought to him, who go on in this life as if he doesn’t even exist, are being robbed blind in the very process of unbelief.  And to think that all of this is happening at the very same time that all the things that are more precious than gold, like the love of God, the knowledge of His Word, and eternal life, are being offered to them as a gift, free of charge, already paid for by the Son of God who paid the debt for their sin on the cross. May God enable us to boldly speak the Truth to those whom we love who are being robbed blind by the enemy of their souls.