Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America

Tuesday after Rogate

Posted on May 19, 2020 by Pastor Dulas under Devotions
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Scripture: St. John 10:6-10 (NKJV)

10:6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Devotion

“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

The holy Faith is slandered in many ways, but among them is this: “If I become a Christian, I will have to give up the ‘fun’ things in life.” This is simply not true (although some sectarians might, with their legalism, give some credence to the “if it’s fun, don’t do it” mentality). Jesus tells us specifically that He came to give us life—abundant life.

First and foremost, of course, that means the life of the world to come. He promises us eternal life, free from pain, want, hunger, or disease. We will be freed from our old sinful natures, and will for the first time, and forever onward, know what it feels like not to have a single sinful inclination anywhere in us! Yet our Lord comes to give us abundant life in this world too. What could be more life-affirming than to know that we have been made right with God, the Maker of heaven and earth?

So we get to live this life at peace: forgiven, loved by God, and honored with manifold opportunities to serve Him and our neighbor, in service that makes our lives truly meaningful. God grant us His grace, that with grateful hearts we may both do His will, and genuinely enjoy it.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for the gift of life, and the gift of life eternal. Let Your Spirit work in me, that doing Your work may be a genuine pleasure to me. Amen.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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