The Thief

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

Jesus was known for telling impactful stories that people would be able to remember.

In John 10:10 Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they

may have life and have it abundantly.”

I first read that verse when I was a young teenager and I’ve never forgotten the verse about the

thief. That one verse has had a lasting impact on my life, my choices, and the way I think about

abundant life.

The thief became a real character that desires to steal the goodness of life from me.

Because of that verse I read as a young teenager I remembered that God wants to give good to

me and the thief wants to steal it. At the time I didn’t completely understand so I did what I always

did. I prayed…sort of. It was like, hey God, what’s the answer?

I also asked my dad. You might wonder why I always asked my dad…it’s because even though he had been educated as an engineer, he was a Bible scholar at heart. He studied his ole’ Bible and prayed about what he read. He listened.

But here’s the real catch. He never gave me the answer.

What he gave me was the right question I needed to pray about. Can you imagine

being taught as a young teenager how to formulate the right question and listen to

God for the answer?

It was a game changer!

Many years later after college God tapped me on the shoulder and told me to go to

Seminary. It was not a journey I wanted to take. I knew Seminary was a very long

journey (144 hours). I had studied communication as an undergraduate and a masters

degree in Communication was 30 hours. I tried to bargain for the lesser degree but

God was adamant. So…off to Seminary I went.

It turned out to be one of the greatest journeys of my life. I loved every minute of it!

The degree included seven disciplines and 7 years of study. Hebrew was my

chosen language. I thought Hebrew would kill me at one point but it did not. Now I’m

very glad I studied Old Testament Hebrew!

The thief tried to scare me into not listening to the call to go to Seminary, but God

stood with me. My dad helped me learn how to listen for the voice of God and when I

came to a point where I didn’t think I could go on, the voice of God reminded me I was

not ever alone.

God reminded me there was a plan for my life.

Deborah

acrazyjourney.com