John 10:7-13
The Good Shepherd
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They 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 to the full.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
John 14:6-7
Jesus Says He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Romans 3:12-18
No One Is Righteous
10 As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Proverbs 1:1-7
Purpose and Themes of Proverbs
1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
for understanding words of insight;
3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,
knowledge and discretion to the young—
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance—
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
God cannot be replaced...God created man, so replacing Him with someone or something else would do great harm in living a good and fulfilling life...The culture of the current world seems as though it is trying to replace God with a variety of things...Some of the things we try to replace Him with are material and some of the things are philosophical, or a belief system of a one of our own, a current person, group, or groups...The world is in trouble and we have pushed God to one side or another with these different things...We are leaving Him out of our lives...We are indifferent to God...Maybe we no longer wish or want His Authority to be over us...We want to be in control...The world seems to want to do its own thing, because we cannot see God’s Authority or want His discipline...When we leave Him out of our lives we are not as right and just and fair to others...
The real question we might ask is what is wrong with Authority?...What is wrong with the Authority of God?...Why don’t we want to follow the Word of God...We resist and protest in our own different ways out of lack of fear and respect for our Father...We see ourselves as independent thinkers or new thinkers, which is alright, if our thinking is centered and focused on God, but we cannot do things our way, because life and creation is created by God...Life is based on God...If we are truly created by God, then we all are thirsting for Him and His Living Water...Without God, life is empty and void...Replacing God and His Authority does not work...Something will feel missing in your life, when you replace Him with something else...
So we need do things our Creator’s Way, God’s Way...He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life...Following our own way, and our own truths lead us to a life of little meaning and of apathy...Jumping and searching for the next thing and the next temporary fad that comes along does not work...This has been tried many times and is never a permanent joy or satisfying in the long term...The only One who can permanently satisfy our lives and can give us purpose and meaning is the One who is the Good Shepherd and is the Way, the Truth, and the Life...Following His Way brings us the Absolute Truths to the universe, and gives us an abundant life...