Hello
Here’s today’s Holy Nougat
“But the other one, rebuking him, replied, “Don’t you fear God, since you are under the same sentence? We’re getting what we deserve for our actions, and rightly so—but this One has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “ Yeshua, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.””
Luke 23:40-42 TLV
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Three crosses.
Three of them hung that day.
Two sentenced to death for legitimate crimes. The third, Jesus. Sentenced by pressure of blind, corrupt officials and in fulfilment of scripture.
One was a bit sceptical. He mocked Jesus, questioning His sovereignty and His legitimacy as Saviour. He was open to salvation from the immediate, and that might have been the only thing he could see Jesus being capable of doing for him. And even then, his attitude suggested lack of regard for the Lordship of Jesus. Unfortunately many of us are guilty of the same.
The other, saw the Messiah, high and lifted up, even there on the cross. He, like the prophet Isaiah, was undone. Recognizing that his time was near, he did the only thing a contrite heart could do – he appealed to Jesus for mercy.
‘Remember me,’ he pleaded to Jesus, ‘when You come into Your Kingdom.’
That cry indicated his total surrender to God. His desire was not for immediate gratification, but for eternity. He knew that Christ’s death meant that Christ was going to prepare that place for all who believed. And he believed with all his being that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ’s kingdom.
Unlike the three men at Gethsemane, most of us know neither the day nor our moment of reckoning. But we also have a choice to make. Are we sceptical, or looking to the Saviour for momentary gratification, or are we in a relationship with the Messiah for the long haul. What shall be our choice?
I pray our lives will tell the choice no matter where we go.
In Christ’s love and grace . . .
