Friday, April 6, 2007 (*Good Friday*)
*Read today’s Scripture:* Luke 23:42-43
/Lord, help us today to rejoice in the gift of salvation'/
Have you asked Jesus to "remember" you by your act of faith in him, as
your Savior* *and Lord? Are you secure in the knowledge that you belong
to Jesus now and forever?
In this text we find one of the seven last words of Jesus as he speaks
from the cross. In it we hear the giving of what Max Lucado calls "The
Eleventh Hour Gift .”
Jesus is near death. The people are watching, the rulers are sneering,
the soldiers are mocking. One of the two criminals hurls insults at
Jesus; both had been insulting him earlier. But one of the criminals
begins to defend Jesus. He rebukes the other criminal saying, "Don't you
fear God since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly,
for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing
wrong.”
Something in the demeanor of Jesus made him realize that this man was
innocent. Perhaps hearing the words, "Father, forgive them, for they do
not know what they are doing," made him realize that this man was
different. Something about Jesus made his heart stir and give him a ray
of hope. He said to Jesus, "Remember me when you come into your
kingdom." Somehow, he saw Jesus as Messiah and the coming Son of Man,
and asked to be raised from the dead when Jesus came again to earth to
set up his kingdom.
But Jesus gave him a different answer, a promise that "today you will be
with me in paradise." Not with me in the future, but today. Paradise was
a symbol of the Garden of Eden, which became a/ /type of heaven and the
bliss of heaven. Jesus assured him he would be there with him that very
day by his simple act of faith in who Jesus was.
The same gift is given to us when we turn to Jesus in faith. At the
moment of death we will enter the presence of Jesus. Paul tells us that
to be away from the body is to be present with the Lord. (II Cor. 5:8).
We have assurance that here or there we belong to Jesus. I love the
simple and direct way Paul puts it in Romans 14:8: “If we live, we live
to the Lord; and if we die we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or
die, we belong to the Lord.” We are saved! The thief was saved at the
last minute, the eleventh hour; we are saved right now through our faith
in Jesus. We are not in paradise yet, but in Jesus paradise is in us,
and we can live gladly and victoriously!
Floyd Roseberry, Pastor to Pastors
/(40 hours of prayer continues)/