Sunday's thought...

"Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!'  And He said to him, 'I assure you: Today you will be with Me in paradise.'"

Luke 23:42-43

So... we go into church today, and our pastor throws this message at us.  He tells us that we will be looking at the differences between forgiveness and consequences.  He points out that many Christians (he included himself, and I must do the same) like to believe that because we are forgiven, we should be freed of consequences.  Nice thought; not reality.

Another pastor friend of mine told me once that he always found this same concept to be interesting, seeing the motivation some people need to be saved.  They pray for their salvation in the hope that Jesus will keep them from going to jail to serve time for crimes committed.  Or they hope that somehow Jesus will show up and just impress upon them all the knowledge they should have been studying for the exam or task or job that is before them, so they won't fail from a lack of preparation.  No dice, kids... not gonna happen like that.

However, both of these men point out, as I know and I'm certain you do, too, that Jesus DOES save you from the ultimate penalty, that of course being hell and death and damnation and being lost for all eternity.  That He paid for, and He did so in magnificence and abundance!  But He did not say we would never suffer consequences... laws on earth exist for a reason, and the respective punitive arrangements for them have similar reasoning, as well.  But, even though you may pay for your crimes here on earth, you are freed from the grip of the enemy.  That's why the man hanging beside Christ got the answer stated above.

Moreover, we must look into what this means to us today, right now, in our own lives.  It is a great story, and to hear it is somewhat inspiring, for sure... but that guy still died from crucifixion, and I'm not sure I want to go out like that, you know?  He still died a gruesome death.  It is certainly comforting to know we'll meet that man one day and share with him in the glory of Heaven, but he did still die awfully. 

So I pose a rhetorical question to each and every one of you: what wrongs have you committed, and what consequences are facing you?  Are you saved in the eternal sense, and freed from the righteous judgments against those wrongs?  Are you expecting Jesus to manifest His glory to save you from something you have brought upon yourself?  Are you waiting for Him to take your earthly consequences away, just as He did your eternal ones? 

I will not compose answers to these questions, because I know I have been guilty of all of the above at times... but if you are really honest with yourself about it, I think you'll find a new level of prayerful obedience to Him!

God bless you all!!!