* Remember Me

Remember me when You come into Your kingdom. —Luke 23:42

READ: Luke 23:39-43

Matthew Henshaw got his name into the Guinness Book of World Records in an unusual way. After swallowing a 15.9-inch sword, Henshaw attached a 40-pound sack of potatoes to the handle of the sword and held it for 5 seconds. (This is not recommended.)

Henshaw and others like him have gone to extraordinary lengths to have their names memorialized in the world’s most famous record book. The longing for immortality compels people to do many things—some remarkable, and some bizarre.

The immortality Jesus offers has nothing to do with anything we do. There is no salvation by balancing the records of good deeds verses bad deeds, as is the false teaching in some churches. There is only salvation by canceling records. The record of our bad deeds (including our defective good deeds), along with the just penalties that each deserves, must be blotted out—not balanced.

This is what Christ suffered and died to accomplish. The cancellation happened when the record of our deeds was “nailed to the cross” (Colossians 2:13). How was this damning record nailed to the cross? Christ became my damning record of bad (and good) deeds. He endured my damnation. He put my salvation on a totally different footing. He is my only hope. And faith in him is my only way to God.

In fact, after giving His disciples the authority to do truly remarkable things (Luke 10:17-19), Jesus said, “Do not rejoice . . . that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (v.20).

At Golgotha, an unnamed thief believed that message just in time (Luke 23:40-42). He understood that eternal life had nothing to do with what he had done—good or bad. It had to do with what Jesus was doing—giving His own life so that even the undeserving could be welcomed into heaven by God. The important thing is being remembered not by others, but by God. —

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood—
Sealed my pardon with His blood:
Hallelujah, what a Savior! —Bliss

Our lives matter because God loves us.