"One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding Him and saying, 'Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!' But the other rebuked him saying, 'Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.' Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.' He replied, 'Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23:39-43)

Tell me, what has the thief on the cross done to warrant any help? After all, he has wasted his life. Who is he to beg for forgiveness anyway? And since he's nothing but a sinner, what right does he have to pray: "Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom?"

Do you really want to know? He has the same right to ask for help, to beg for forgiveness, and to pray to the Lord as you and I have.

You see, that IS you and that IS me on the cross next to Jesus. Hopeless, desolate, suffering, separated sinners. That is us. That is us asking.

We don't boast of our wonderful goodness. We can't. We don't produce our list of fantastic things we've done. We can't. Any sacrifices we offer, any excuses we make, appear silly and insignificant when hung before God on a cross.

Yet, we - like the thief - have one more prayer. We, like the thief, pray in desperation, "Jesus, remember me."

And we, like the thief, hear the blessed words of God's Grace in the voice of Jesus, our Savior, "Today, you will be with me."

May you sense Jesus' presence with you as you continue to examine your personal relationship with Him through the remainder of this Lenten season, Holy Week, and Easter Sunday.
Pastor Linda Bibb