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In more than three decades of my Christian life, I have been blest by 2 types of Daily devos'
(matter not exceeding 500 words) in universal Christian literature. Not only those Devos'
which have a different theme everyday but also the ones which revolve around a certain
theme over a period of time, say a fortnight, have richly edified me. In fact, both
styles have their own inherent advantages. If the former style caters to the varying
spiritual needs of a christian from day-to-day, the latter aims 'to ground'
a child of God in a certain subject in order he derives the full benefits of the
deep insightful study of a certain topic, spread over a fixed span of time.
In my Daily devo page, I have consciously tried to go in for 'a blend of both the
styles' whereby within a constant theme, I would be aiming to focus on different
facets of it which admittedly is a closer imitation of the 'Constant theme' style
than the 'Varying topics' one.
Having dwelt on the topic of Christian journey and the “Conquest of Canaan”
in the previous months, now in the month of March, considering that
we are in the season of Lent, I intend to focus on the subject- “Lent season”.
Once again, let me wish you a happy and an edifying read…
Suresh Manoharan
16th Lent Day
There’s never a wrong time to do the right thing!
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ?
Save yourself and us!" But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said,
"since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds
deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into
your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." -
Luke 23:39-43
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The reassuring second word (to be more precise the second sentence), the good Lord spoke on the cross in
response to the dying plea of the repentant thief on the cross, holds out hope to many a sinner on a deathbed
that, one can repent even at the fag end of his life and be forgiven. The three crosses on the Calvary hill
are symbolic of the eternal salvation and the two different responses to the same. There can be only two of
it-YES or NO.
While one thief had nothing to with it (the Divine redemption plan), the other one hung onto it,
like a sinking man onto a lifebuoy and guaranteed a place for himself in paradise. In the entire history of
sinful mankind (who is not a sinner and in need of forgiveness –
Romans 3:23?), we see basically the two categories
of people- the unrepentant and the repentant ones. If proud Saul and his contrite successor David, repentant
Manasseh and his adamant son Amon are symbolic of the same in OT times
(II Chronicles 33:23), then conniving
Judas (did not repent after betraying the Lord) and humble Peter (repented after denying his master) and these 2
thieves are a kind of their counterparts in the NT era.
In which category do we belong? When we picturize in our mind the Sinless one dying for sin, we can either
die to sin, like the repentant thief did or choose to die in sin like the unrepentant one, sadly did.
One statutory warning: While it’s good to repent even at the fag end of one’s life like the remorseful thief
did, let’s never put off our repentance to the eleventh hour, because we do not know when death will knock at
our door, what if it does at 10.30? So the convicted ones’, better repent NOW
(II Cor 6:1-2)!
THERE'S NEVER A WRONG TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING!
Prayer:
Father, how comforting it is to set right our relationship with thee. There can be no greater sense of security, than to know all is well between us. Those of us, who have never tasted thy redemptive
love, we repent of our sins and dedicate our lives into thy hands. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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