Luke tells us that many people followed Jesus to the site of His crucifixion – weeping and wailing for Him...
You and I are like the thief on the cross. Loved, redeemed, accepted by the Saviour – not by anything we have done but to look to Him and live!
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:42,43
Luke tells us that many people followed Jesus to the site of His crucifixion – weeping and wailing for Him. One of them observed this exchange between Jesus and one of the two thieves dying on either side of Him. Both of the thieves started this ordeal by cursing and vilifying Jesus, but as time passed one of them had a change of heart and pleads with Jesus. Note what Jesus did as He approached His last moments of agony – can we do anything else but love the Saviour at this moment?? I point out three things of note from this exchange:
We humans are changeable. Sometimes we get it right and sometimes we get it wrong. We change our minds – we go back on what we have said. We are angry with the Lord and then we are coming needy to the Lord. God knows all this and receives us still! Salvation is not based on our faithfulness but on His faithfulness.
Jesus hears, listens, and loves. He has time for you and me. In Jesus’ response to the thief we see the character of God displayed for us. Paul tells us that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
Jesus is the friend who we will spend eternity with. He personally is the gateway to eternal life. We accept this reality by faith and know that when we die, we will go to be with the best friend anyone could ever ask for. It will take eternity to begin to appreciate the love of God for us!
You and I are like the thief on the cross. Loved, redeemed, accepted by the Saviour– not by anything we have done but to look to Him and live!
We had such a great time with Jeremy and Carmen Kinniburgh this past weekend as they taught on our relationship with the Holy Spirit. You can listen to our podcast by going on the church website, clicking on ‘resources’ and you will find podcasts there. They mentioned some resources which I note here:
- “Invitation to a journey” by Robert Mulholland Jr.
- “Faithful presence” by David Fitch
- “Soulcare”, “River Dweller” and other great books by Rob Reimer
- “Pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer
- “Continuous revival” by Norman Grubb
- Kinniburgh’s website is www.thresholdinitiatives.com
Finally, here is a great old song (sung on a cruise ship!) that really speaks to the theme today. Let it bless your heart.
Pastor Leon Throness
