One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”
But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”
And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43)
God is Holy and Just. We are commanded to be holy, and to worship Him in spirit and truth. But instead we lie, cheat, steal, lust, hate. When it’s all said and done, we are all criminals. Each of us must decide how to respond when we encounter our crucified Lord. Will we be like the first criminal and continue to rebel, keeping hold of the punishment for our sin? Or like the second man, will we recognize that our God has taken an undeserved punishment for us, let go and beg Him to remember us?
Many of our fellow criminals (i.e. humans) have yet to encounter Christ. Instead of getting dragged down into the swamp of political correctness, politics and arguing - what can we do to help people to find the risen Lord?
Our task is not to fight political warfare, but spiritual. We need to spend our time introducing people to our crucified Lord - the rest is up to God and the heart of the person as they encounter Him.
#LoveMatters