The Thief by Alexander Smelly
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 verses 42 and 43 "'Twas a thief,' Robert Browning
writes, who said the last kind word to Christ. In the morning
the thief was out of Christ, far from God and far from righteousness,
the helpless captive of sin, the child of despair and death. At noon the thief was in Christ,
remembered graciously by the Saviour of the lost. redeemed
with an everlasting redemption, endowed with the new heart, and
freely and perfectly justified. In the evening, the thief was
with Christ, gazing on the glories of Paradise, safe at home with
his good shepherd and adorable Redeemer. What a crowded and
memorable day this was in his history! So much was pressed
into these few hours, such a glorious and unprecedented transition
they brought, from the cruel cross to Heaven's glory. out of Christ, then in Christ,
then with Christ, nature, then grace, then glory, hopelessly
lost in the far country, then safe under the Saviour's wings,
then beside the Lord on His glorious throne. Are these the three stages
in my spiritual biography? I know the first only too well. Am I growing more and more familiar
with the second? Is it my joy to look forward
to the third? I ask not the favor given to
Paul, Copernicus said. I seek not the grace bestowed
upon Peter. But I beg the mercy granted to
the thief on the cross.