There were two bad men crucified with Jesus. The punishment of crucifixion wasn’t for ordinary crimes, by the way. It was reserved for the worst of the worst. According to a Newsweek article, Rome used that punishment as a political weapon to discourage sedition. Barabbas was to be crucified because he’d taken part in an uprising. The other two beside Jesus could easily have been co-conspirators.
One of the two scoffed at the claims of Jesus. The other accepted Jesus. Matthew even has Jesus telling of two men in a field. One will be taken, the other left. Coincidence? Maybe.
But the point is it’s never too late to accept Jesus. He’ll take the deathbed convert, just as He’ll take the thirty-year follower. You have to ask yourself, though, if you’ll have time on a deathbed to make that step to faith in Him.
In Exodus, Pharaoh many times “hardened his heart.” Eventually, God “hardened Pharaoh’s heart.” You may well ask what that means.
In college there was a diagonal shortcut through a grassy area between my dormitory and the Fine Arts Center. People used it so often the grass died along that path. On either side of that shortcut the grass was lush and green. So what killed the grass? The repeated tromping along an area not meant to be traveled.
Pharaoh went down a path he wasn’t supposed to travel. He went so often the grass died under his feet. His decisions hardened his heart so much he was no longer capable of believing what Moses told him.
Does that mean it can be too late for you?
I’m sure there are some that are beyond redemption. Those people no longer seek His mercy. They don’t even want it. But anyone who wants to know God can. It’s never too late if you truly want Him. There’s no crime that disqualifies you. Not even the sedition of the man crucified next to Jesus.
So if you believe God can never forgive you, that’s incorrect thinking. There will be murderers in Heaven. There will no doubt be preachers in Hell.
As a sign hanging in some cars proclaim, “Christians aren’t perfect. Just forgiven.”
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