“I AM GUILTY!”

Luke 23:39-43                                  (ESV)

“39 ONE OF THE CRIMINALS who were hanged railed at HIM, saying, "Are you not the CHRIST? Save YOURSELF and us!"

40 But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear GOD, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the DUE REWARD of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong."

42 And he said, "JESUS, remember me when YOU come into YOUR kingdom."

43 And HE said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with ME in paradise." 

“I AM GUILTY!”

My normal protocol is to locate a word or two in the focal Scripture of the day and entitle the Devotional with them.   However today all that is on my mind is “I AM GUILTY!”  The CRIMINALS being crucified on either side of JESUS WERE guilty of crimes, according to the thief who begged forgiveness in verse 42.  And he knew that JESUS had done nothing wrong.  (v.41).  After reading the passage of Scripture over and over again yesterday, I HAD to revisit it to share some thoughts that wouldn’t leave me alone!  

The CRIMINAL had already been nailed to the cross.  He knew his time was limited.  So often we act as though we are going to “live forever”, that we will never die.  However Scripture says in Hebrews 9:27 “...it is appointed for man to die once, and after 

that comes judgment,...!” 

Shouldn’t I then make the most of every day that I am blessed to be on earth?  Getting so engrossed with the happenings of “this world” is one of the favorite lies the devil uses to convince us NOT to follow CHRIST!  We say and think that we have plenty of time time to get our lives in order, but Scripture says EVERY BREATH comes from GOD (Isaiah 42:5) and HE has been known to cause those breaths to cease rather abruptly!  

We can be deceived by the enemy, or we can say “I AM GUILTY” like the criminal on the cross and beg for mercy.  There may not be time to sow a few wild oats, because we always reap what we sow and that might be unpleasant on earth, but it will certainly be HELL in eternity (Luke 12:38)!  We only have the breath we are breathing.  It’s best to declare “I AM GUILTY” before it is everlastingly too late!!!