The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

This passage is in the middle of Jesus teaching that He is the good shepherd. Shepherds in that day would build makeshift pens for the sheep to sleep in. If a thief wanted to try to steal sheep, they would have to scale the boundaries that the shepherd built. To keep this from happening, good shepherds would sleep in the doorway of the pen, ever alert to danger. The boundaries that Jesus sets up are not to make our lives dull and meaningless, but to repel the attacks of those who want to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus offers us life, and life to the fullest.