“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43
The thief trusts himself into the hands of Jesus. And Jesus gives him this promise: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
The thief was in exactly the same position as we are today. If you turn to Jesus and ask Him to save you, what do you have? You have His word. You have His promise.
Immediately after the thief trusted Jesus, “It was… about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour” (23:44). Think about what that was like for the thief.
Trusting Jesus in darkness
The thief had to trust the promise of Jesus when he was surrounded by great darkness. There will be times when you find yourself hanging on to His promise in great darkness. Don’t be surprised when this happens to you. The promise of Jesus is as sure in the darkness as it is in the light.
Trusting Jesus in pain
Think about the agony the thief experienced after he trusted Jesus. The pain of crucifixion got worse by the hour, as wounds in His hands and feet widened, and as fever raged through His body. The thief experienced more pain after he trusted Jesus than he did before! Trusting Jesus is never a passport to a pain-free life—not in this world.
Trusting Jesus in death
We are not told about the moment when the thief died. But he had to trust Jesus in the moment of death, as all of us will have to do when that moment comes for us. Here is how to die: Forget about what you have done for Jesus and fix your eyes wholly on what Jesus has done for you.
What is hindering you from trusting in Jesus today?
