I tend to live in a Post-it Notes kind of world. You know—the small, sticky pieces of paper perfect for jotting down ideas or reminders and sticking them wherever they’ll be noticed: refrigerator doors, desktops, dashboards. These days, though, I mostly use the digital version—an app fittingly called Notes in the Apple ecosystem.
A thought, an idea, a snippet of a conversation or something I’ve seen? Bam—typed or dictated into Notes. Simple, immediate, no ceremony required.
Recently, while attempting a long-overdue clean-up of my laptop, I stumbled across four of these stray entries. At first glance, they seemed random:
- “If I were you I’d want to be me too.” — Meghan Trainor
- “We want a god that exists for me” — Dr. Fred Campbell
- “I want” vs. “we need”
- “Living with urgency”
At first, they read like loose ends. Just scattered fragments. But the more I looked, the more I began to hear a kind of bass line running beneath them—an undercurrent of tension. These notes, while varied in tone and source, were circling a central idea: the quiet, persistent conflict between competing wills—mine versus ours, mine versus God’s. A kind of zero-sum worldview where for one to win, another must lose.
Then I was reminded of something Jesus said in John 10:
“Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
All who have come before me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep have not listened to them.
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.
They will come in and go out, and find pasture.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” — John 10:7–10
That verse—especially verse 10—is often quoted, sometimes out of context. But even on its own, the contrast is striking. On one side: theft, destruction, loss. On the other: abundance, fullness, life.
So what do these four seemingly unrelated Notes have to do with John 10? Maybe nothing. Or maybe they’re four different noses pressed up against the same window—each peering into the sacred, often-misunderstood space of the human heart.
Too often, we push away the very thing we most desire and need. Not intentionally, but distractedly—falling for counterfeits that promise life but leave us emptier than before. Whether it’s narcissism, insatiable consumption, or the creation of gods shaped in our own image, we end up robbed of the very fullness Jesus offers.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…”
We’ve all been taken in by those thieves—sometimes willingly. But what if living with urgency isn’t about hustle or noise, but about clarity? About choosing to trust that God is who He says He is, and that His way truly is best?
What if urgency looks like surrender?
What if abundance begins with letting go?
Maybe then we’d stop pressing our noses to the glass and finally walk through the gate.
Categories: Acts17seventeen Christian Christianity Community Follower Of Jesus Hurt obedience Witnessing
Pastor Mark
Mark, the eighth of nine children born to Reuben and Henrietta Meeks—dedicated church planters with nearly 30 congregations established across California’s Central Valley—is a preacher's kid who grew up immersed in faith and service. With over forty years of experience teaching, discipling, and ministering to communities, including the hospitalized and incarcerated, Mark responded to God's call to pastoral ministry. He holds degrees in civil engineering and public administration, as well as a Master’s in Theology from Fuller Seminary, equipping him to serve with both practical insight and spiritual depth.
acts17seventeen 
Leave a comment