John 10:7-10

John 10:7-10 - Daily Devotion - 4 August 2026 St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park 7 So He said to them again, “Truly, truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.REFLECTIONSWritten by Paul BoggRecently we had a short discussion in growth group about bucket lists. A bucket list is some list of things you really want to before you die. Stuff like travelling to particular countries, or having certain experiences, or making some kind of accomplishments – at least, typically things that apply to what you can do in the world. I wondered how and why that term came about, and I guess it has something to do with feeling you have led a “full life”. Life is like a bucket, and you want to fill it as full as you can with good experiences. So if you didn’t do these things, you might die feeling like you missed out on something. Jesus drops a real bombshell in today’s passage: He, and he alone, is “the gate”. Anyone who enters through him is saved and will have life. But not just an ordinary life – in verse 10, he says they will have life “in all its fullness”. Pondering what it means to have a “full life”, I reflect on my time before I knew the Lord. As a single man, I had the freedom to go places, to travel, to eat whatever I wanted. But I wasn’t happy, and I knew that these experiences didn’t satisfy. There were temporary joys, momentary and fleeting – but nothing lasted.  Coming to church and hearing Jesus himself speaking from the Bible, it was like I could see the pasture in front of me. I could even talk to the sheep. I wasn’t yet in that pasture myself, but I could see that it was good, and I wanted to be there. So – I listened to the Shepherds voice and entered through the narrow gate. Having been grazing in the pasture for many years now, I can say that now I have a full life. To know the good Shepherd, to come under his guidance, the safety of his protection, fellowship with God himself, fellowship with his flock, I have this deep-seated joy now, an inexplicable satisfaction that my life here on earth is full. I no longer desire the things that I once did – although those things are still good as part of God’s creation, I’m fully content now with all that life has to offer me. The bucket list promises fullness through check lists. Jesus offers fullness through relationship.  Reflect on your time with him today. ABOUT THE AUTHORPaul is a member of our Bossley Park Morning congregation.