Good Morning All,
Luke
23:43; “And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with
me in Paradise.”
Do you remember the song “All My
Trials”? It was recorded by Joan Baez;
Peter, Paul and Mary; The Kingston Trio among others. It is a very plaintive ballad about the
struggles of life. It starts with the
haunting line,” Hush little baby don’t you cry; you know your mother was born
to die.”
This is one of those songs that when you
hear it and listen to the word; you either love it or hate it. There are many people who despise this song
because, to them, it is a negative song with a negative attitude toward
life. They see it as fatalistic and
dreary and gloomy. It is based on a
Bahamian lullaby where a mother on her deathbed is comforting her
children. The key line in the song is
“all my trials soon (will) be over”.
While some find this song problematic, it
tells of a truth of life. Our life is
one long trial and it will soon be over.
Some see this as fatalistic and depressing. It is an accurate view of life; we were born
to die.
The story of Christ’s crucifixion really is
a microcosm of the life of man. As Jesus
hangs on the cross, there are two thieves, one on each side, being crucified with
him. One is defiant and mocks Jesus; the
other repents of his wrong doings and calls Jesus Lord. Both men are dying but one will live to be in
paradise.
We like to think that our life will last a
long time; perhaps in our mind it will last forever. Yet we are sinners, we are dying. In essence, we are already hanging on the
cross; we are dying. Our life is slowing
draining away. We will all eventually
die; the question is which cross do you hang on?
Many in this world hang on the cross of the
scoffer. They deny Jesus as Lord; they
do not believe that He can or will forgive their sins. They do not believe that God would do this
out of love for them. They hang on that
cross refusing to see their own death coming.
They deny that they are truly helpless and incapable of changing their
lot, their future, in any way. So they
join the sinful world in scoffing and denying Jesus and sealing their fate and
certain eternal death.
Then there are those who accept life. Even though they are hanging on the cross,
they look to Jesus for salvation. Even
though they are facing earthly death, they trust in God’s promise of
forgiveness and of eternal life. They have
faith in the words, “you will be with me in paradise”. They have eternal life so they are able to
face death knowing that the trials of the cross will give way to life
everlasting.
So the question is which cross do you hang
on? Is it the one which scoffs at Jesus
and does not believe in his promise or do you hang on the cross which is
forgiven and has received the promise of salvation?
Dear Lord, we hear your promise of forgiveness and salvation. Give us the faith to trust in your promise;
give us faith. Hold us close to you and
when our time on the cross is done, bring us home to you in Paradise. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.
God’s
Peace,
Pastor
Bret
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