HANGING on a PRAYER

“Then [the criminal] said to Jesus, “Lord remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:42-43).I love this prayer! "Remember me!" It’s short, sweet, and blows conventional religiosity on its head. You see, the pardon of the Lord is granted by the standing of the heart, not a standard of how our prayers start. We have been brainwashed about how we may approach the throne of grace; and like the “religious” mentality of old, we are still attempting to stitch up the veil that was torn. We do so by thinking our own effort can grant us divine favor. However, our only merit we have to offer is based on the mercy that God already offered. Thus, you do not have to sprinkle water on your body, prostrate your body, nor recite a body of words. No! All that is required is a humbled heart and repentant mind.“For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—These O God, You will not despise” (Psalm 51. 16-17).In God’s ultimate illustration, from His divinity to our humanity, He wanted us to see His Son as the center and only way back to Him.  As Jesus hung on the cross between two criminals, it is in this configuration that we are introduced to the two different types of hearts that are found in man--belief and disbelief. While one mocked and jeered, the other revered and feared.“Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”  But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?  And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:39-41).Then the moment of truth, which spilled out of the believing criminals mouth, as he had previously revealed his broken and contrite heart and clear acknowledgment of his deeds. He had repented and now he is about to ask for salvation while hanging. You see, although he was hanging on a cross in shame, his soul was hanging on a prayer of grace!“Then he said to Jesus, “Lord remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:42-43).And that was it! No build up of song or chant. No priestly confession booth. No rosary beads or carpets for your knees. Nothing but a humbled heart and repented mind, while hanging on a cross. While breathing his last breath. The criminal saw what many fail to see.  The criminal saw salvation in Jesus and His forgiving eyes. His crime brought him there, yet the gift of God met him there. Let us understand that it is by the blood of Christ that we are saved from our sins; and when we call out to God through Jesus' sacrifice (from the confession booth of our pure heart), God hears our plea and responds with His pardon.  And by Jesus’ words on the cross to the criminals pardon request, we know that we too will be with Jesus in Paradise upon our souls request.Therefore, let us see the beauty of God's mercy, which has nothing to do with a resume of accomplishments, nor does it have anything to do with having a reputation of good works; but rather it has everything to do with what the Lord accomplished on the cross. “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).