“Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Luke 23:42
This was an audacious request. The thief did not say, “I know I’ve made some mistakes, but nobody’s perfect, and I’ve done a lot of good things in my life.” He said, “We are receiving the due reward of our deeds” (23:41).
This man asked Jesus with honesty and humility. He faced the fact that he was a sinner. He had sinned against God and against his fellow man. And we are like him. We have failed to do what God has called us to do, and we have done what He has told us not to do.
This is precisely why Jesus went to the cross, where He became the sacrifice and the substitute for sinners. “The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Jesus carried sins into His death, so that you would not have to carry them into yours.
We don’t like to ask. We prefer deals: “Here is something that I can do for you. And there’s something I would like you to do for me.” And our first instinct when it comes to God is to think in terms of a deal. If I pray… If I go to church… If I’m generous… If I live a good life… God will get me into heaven.
But here’s what happens if you come to God that way—you go through life feeling God owes you, and you hang your future on a deal that doesn’t exist, because God doesn’t make deals.
Asking means that you come to Jesus with empty hands, knowing that there is nothing you can offer Him. You are casting yourself upon His mercy and looking to Him for grace.
What the thief did was deceptively simple. He began to fear God. He recognized his sinful condition. And he asked Jesus to save him.
Have you ever tried to make a deal with God? Have you ever come to Him empty-handed?
