April 21, 202
Life is made up of decisions, most of which are unavoidable. On an ordinary day we make hundreds, and whole lot more when life shifts into high gear. Most are trivial, but not all, and especially not those pertaining to spiritual things. These are important in the here and now because the outcomes reach into eternity. And spiritual decisions are time-sensitive with a built-in expiration date coinciding with our own.
That is how it was for the men who were crucified beside Jesus. They were put onto the cross before noon and knew that they would not be allowed to live until the Sabbath – only six hours away. They did not have all day to make up their minds about Jesus.
They knew a lot about him, because much of what he had done and said were common knowledge. By the power of God He had performed miracles and had also proven that he had the right to forgive sins. He had promised that the Kingdom of Heaven would arrive within the lifetime of his hearers and that as the Son of God he would usher it in. But before that, God had sent him to die on a cross and then to rise from the dead on the third day.
Those two men on crosses with Jesus spoke for us all. What they decided – exhausts all of our options.
With time running out, one man railed while the other repented. One wanted a stay of execution while the other wanted a stay in heaven. As quickly as sins were piling up on one side of Jesus he was forgiving them on the other.
Torment or Paradise. It ought to be an easy choice and made without delay. It might just be later than we think, for we do not know either when we will die nor when our Lord will return. But what we do know is that we have the opportunity to make up our minds about Jesus, today.
~ David Knutson