On the day that Jesus died, three men hung on crosses. Three men that society had lumped together, men who deserved to die the worst death. Or rather, two who deserved to die, and One who didn’t.
One thief came to realize this truth. One thief realized that while he had stolen and deserved his punishment, Jesus was truly the Son of God and did not deserve to die. As he hung there, dying with Jesus, he realized that he needed Jesus. He cried out in the simplest, purest prayer of salvation, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42).
The thief didn’t attend any high level theology courses; he didn’t read all of Scripture or wait until he had cleaned up his act. He simply turned to Jesus. He didn’t use a bunch of spiritual sounding words or fancy titles but just called Jesus by name.
You and I don’t need fancy words to call on Jesus and we don’t need to wait until a certain time either. Sometimes I put off praying because I feel as if I need to have a better idea of what to pray or a more spiritual thing to ask of God. I think I have to figure out all of the right words or have a plan of what I think God needs to do.
Yet the thief didn’t have any deep, spiritual thoughts. He just wanted Jesus to remember him. And Jesus took that simple, basic request and gave him even more. Instead of just remembering the thief, Jesus promised that he would be in Paradise with Him. Jesus knows what we need even better than we do! He knows what our heart’s cry is, and He gives above and beyond, blessing us as only He can.
I am just like that thief. I have stolen from God by giving to myself the things that belong to Him–my attention and adoration. Every time I put myself in the center of the universe, I am stealing the praise and worship that only God deserves. I need to humble myself like the thief on the cross and simply call out to Jesus to remember me.
Remember is such a loaded word in Scripture. God offers forgiveness and promises not to remember our sin (Isaiah 43:25). Rather, He will remember us according to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. God also urges us to remember who He is, which is a purposeful action we must take to daily remind ourselves of God’s faithfulness toward us. If we don’t actively remind ourselves (remember), then we slip into forgetfulness.
We need to pray the thief’s prayer and ask Jesus to remember us: to guide us, protect us, and lead us on the path of righteousness. We need to remember Him–to stop stealing the praise and adoration that He deserves and offer it to Him.
Jesus, remember me.
