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THE UNREPENTANT THIEF-ME!

by olive Ngoe  
11/26/2014 / Christian Living

The content of this article came to me while listening to an exposition on the passage focusing on Jesus and the two thieves on the cross as outlined in Luke 23:39-43. It was refreshing for me to discover that as the expositor was exploring a different angle on the scene that took place on that hill among the three people who were crucified, I immediately had a different revelation on the same passage. God is wonderful in the way he keeps revealing his word to us no matter how many times we go through it!
Whenever I have had the chance to engage in a discourse on this passage, the focus many times has been on the penitent thief, who realizing his own sin and being in need of a savior, asked Jesus to remember him. And because I am human, I am many times innately benevolent towards myself I will look at this passage and quickly identify myself with the penitent thief. Through my own eyes, I will see how, if I would have been the one on the cross, I would have acted like the 'good' thief. However, this time, I caught myself asking the question 'Really? Are you really sure, that is what you would have done?' I started thinking about the unrepentant thief in light of the periods of trials and failings that I have gone through; for you see, the more honestly introspective I looked at how I have reacted during these times, the more I saw that some of my choices were not very far from the attitude of this thief in the words he spoke to Jesus.
I do not mean to bash my faith for this. I am keenly aware that I am born again and no one can take away the gift I received from my Lord Jesus and even the evil one can't take away what the Father has given to the Son-me! I also know that this is a journey in which the Father is still perfecting me and there are bound to be failings, so long as I am on this side of heaven in an imperfect world and with a heart that has oft wayward desires, contrary to my longing to please my Father. I mean only to open my eyes to the fact that sometimes in my attitude when faced with trials, I am skating very thin ice between being the penitent thief and being the unrepentant one.
When I review some instances in which I have gone through periods that are not very comfortable or what I thought at the time to be extreme testing I find that indeed my responses have at times been similar to the unrepentant thief. When doubts and fears have assailed me, when I have been round a mountain for so long so that I have become cynical of ever breaking camp and all I do is murmur and complain, when loved ones in my life have hurt me and anger and bitterness have stealthily crept into my spirit because I do not want to let go, I find that my attitude is not far from his. I have no doubt that Jesus is the son of God and the Messiah, but I find myself asking him-If you are God, why don't you get me out of this?! You are God, but are you my God? Do you even hear my cry? Do I matter to you? In these times instead of brokenness, I become stubborn and even rebellious. It is in these times that I do not see my sin. I do thank God though, that He is patient with my failings and he who begun a good work in me is faithful to complete it!
It is now easier to look at him with a softened glance in my spirit, knowing that in many instances I have been him. And I run to Jesus and ask him to remind me and help me, that in this journey I may be quick to run to him in repentance and in brokenness, that I may receive his forgiveness and eventually be with Him in paradise!

original article of OLIVE NGOE

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