The two thieves had so much in common. They were convicted by the same system, condemned to the same death, and surrounded by the same crowd. They were both crucified close to Christ and both began with the same sarcasm. But one of the thieves changed.
Did you ever wonder why there were two crosses next to Christ? Certainly there were more criminals crucified that day, but not next to Christ. Did you ever wonder why Jesus was in the center and not on the far left or far right as the thieves were? Could it be that the two crosses on either side of Christ symbolize God's greatest gift - the gift of choice?
Did you ever wonder why Christ did not persuade the unrepentant thief to seek his absolution before he died? Does the shepherd leaves the 99 to seek the lost one? Does not the house wife sweep the house until she finds the lost coin? Yes. But the father of the prodigal son did nothing. The sheep was lost innocently and the coin was lost irresponsibly. But the prodigal son left intentionally. The father gave him the choice. Christ did the same to the two thieves.
In many areas of our lives we have no choice. We did not choose our gender or siblings, our birth or our races. But we have the freedom to choose where we want to spend our eternity.
Our freedom to choose cannot only upset any injustice, but also our mistakes. Although we do not know much about the repentant thief, we know that he made bad mistakes; chose the wrong crowd, wrong morals and wrong behavior. But we also, know his life is not a big waste because he is spending eternity praising God. He is enjoying the fruit of one good choice he made, and in the end, all his bad choices were redeemed by his last one.
Have you made bad choices in your life? I have. But thanks to God, because of Christ's death on the cross, we can make a good choice that can upset our bad choices on earth.
Did you ever wonder why there were two crosses next to Christ? Certainly there were more criminals crucified that day, but not next to Christ. Did you ever wonder why Jesus was in the center and not on the far left or far right as the thieves were? Could it be that the two crosses on either side of Christ symbolize God's greatest gift - the gift of choice?
Did you ever wonder why Christ did not persuade the unrepentant thief to seek his absolution before he died? Does the shepherd leaves the 99 to seek the lost one? Does not the house wife sweep the house until she finds the lost coin? Yes. But the father of the prodigal son did nothing. The sheep was lost innocently and the coin was lost irresponsibly. But the prodigal son left intentionally. The father gave him the choice. Christ did the same to the two thieves.
In many areas of our lives we have no choice. We did not choose our gender or siblings, our birth or our races. But we have the freedom to choose where we want to spend our eternity.
Our freedom to choose cannot only upset any injustice, but also our mistakes. Although we do not know much about the repentant thief, we know that he made bad mistakes; chose the wrong crowd, wrong morals and wrong behavior. But we also, know his life is not a big waste because he is spending eternity praising God. He is enjoying the fruit of one good choice he made, and in the end, all his bad choices were redeemed by his last one.
Have you made bad choices in your life? I have. But thanks to God, because of Christ's death on the cross, we can make a good choice that can upset our bad choices on earth.
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