A Moment of Honour

Good morning Friend, how are you doing today? It’s a good day to be alive isn’t it? It’s been a year since we started “Divine Perspective” and what a joy it has been to bring the Word of God to you with simplicity and clarity. It’s just amazing to find fellow Word Lovers who yearn to know more about the Word of God. Thank you for being part of Divine Perspective so far. Together, we have been able to reach thousands of people around the world; we have almost a hundred articles written so and almost 500 comments in all. This could never have been possible without God’s mandate and your readership. This is me saying thank you and I trust God to reward you with His own treasures in Jesus name. One more thing; I want to say a big thank you to those who took time out to reach out to me on my birthday a few days ago and those who couldn’t due to one reason or the other. It was so overwhelming and my heart’s desire for you is that you will stand perfect and complete in all the will of God for your life in Jesus name. thank you so much guys, may you forever remain relevant to your assignment and your generation in Jesus name.

Today I want us to examine a character in the Bible that many of us do not pay attention to. He is not as stellar as The Christ, he seems to lurk in some corner on the large canvas of the Redemption Art. When the tapestry of Calvary is drawn, he is probably just a line of some sort. Today however, he is the crux of our examination. He was not popular, he was a no good, a sinner, a thief and a loser. He had lost his identity to the miserable things he did while he had the time. When we look at his life, we see a lot of regret, shame and sorrow. A man who continued doing the same things he did, not because he did not know better but because no one believed in him, for even if he had changed, no one would have ever believed. I know many of you are hitching to know who this obscure character is. As bad as his life went, his end didn’t end the same way. One thing stood him out; A Moment of Honour! We don’t even know his name, but we all refer to him as “the thief on the right hand”. Yes, while Jesus was being crucified and humiliated by the roman soldiers, there were 2 criminals crucified just beside Him. One railed on Him and mocked Him just like those in the Golgotha theatre. He said the exact same things they said. Trust me, there are some who are indeed reprobate. Right in the midst of shame, death and impending hell, a man still had enough energy to be evil. Not just to be evil, but to openly dishonor his only path to the glorious alternative; Jesus Christ.

Luke 23:39 (KJV) And one of the malefactors who was hanged railed against Him, saying, “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us!”
40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, “Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art under the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this Man hath done nothing amiss.”
42 And he said unto Jesus, “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom.”
43 And Jesus said unto him, “Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.”

One of them dishonoured the precious Lamb of God, the other for a moment acknowledged and recognized the Son of God on a stake. He was in blood, battered and thoroughly beaten, but He saw the Messaih. On the cross, Jesus had no comeliness that we should behold him, but this man saw the glorious and majestic Morning Star. He was not like others, although he had lived his life carelessly, he was not too careless to overlook his only Saviour and Life giver. He had lost too much time on earth to forfeit this moment. He rebuked the left hander and chose to stand up for Jesus. Peter denied, Judas betrayed, even God forsook but this insignificant man whose name was not even worth mentioning, at the height of Jesus’ sorrow, stood by Jesus, saw Him in His real identity and decided to HONOUR Him. That moment of Honour rewrote his entire story. God had absolutely no record of his past the moment he got saved. As far as I am concerned, he is one of the most significant characters in the Redemption story because he teaches us 2 basic things that we probably need to learn and apply into our lives today;

1. He teaches that no matter how marred, weak and helpless the savior seems, he still has the saving power: Jesus saved a man in His death… Boy! That just gets me pumped. Salvation is the most powerful miracle one could even experience. No other miracle can possibly beat that and though Jesus looked too beaten to speak, too sorrowful to see or too forsaken to even care, He still had enough power to plead the spiritual discharge of this criminal. Now that’s the kind of savior I have. Never too far away to save.

2. He teaches that we must see Jesus as who He really is no matter the situation we find ourselves: We shouldn’t become ungrateful and dishonouring just because we find ourselves in a bad spot. The good thing is Jesus is just right beside us, even in the bad spot. We must NEVER dishonor God just so we look good. You don’t look good at God’s expense, that could be the last look you will have. Let’s honour Him no matter what it is we are going through and we would see His saving power at work.

DISHONOUR is actually the only sin in the Bible. Every sin can be categorized under this large heading. I might not have all the time to prove it to you today, but one thing I know is this; If anyone ever goes to hell, it is because he dishonoured the sacrifice of Jesus while he/she was on earth. One moment of honour changed a man’s eternity, now think about what a daily life of honour to God could do.

I would like us to change his reputation from “the thief on the right hand” to “The Saved Man on The Right”. Call him whatever you may, I’d rather call Him what God calls him than to choose to focus on his past. When you get to heaven and you ask an angel that you’re looking for “the thief on the right hand” there’s only one answer you will get; “Nonexistent!”

Please do well to share with friends. I love you. : )