A Revolutionary Response to God

Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer, was the one who said the earth revolved around the sun, not vice versa. As revolutionary as the thoughts of Copernicus were in science, his thoughts about mercy and forgiveness were no less profound: "I do not ask the grace which thou didst give to St. Paul; nor can I dare to ask the grace which thou didst grant to St. Peter; but, the mercy which thou didst show to the dying robber, that mercy, show to me."

The dying thief on the cross who asked Jesus to remember him in His kingdom received mercy and grace on his dying day. Someone has said that grace is receiving what we don't deserve while mercy is not receiving what we do deserve. The thief on the cross received what he didn't deserve - salvation - and didn't receive what he did deserve - eternal judgment. Every Christian can identify with mercy and grace, but not every Christian is identifiable by his response to mercy and grace. Christians should be known by their lives of sacrificial gratitude to God for what we have received - and for what we haven't.

If you can identify with the thief on the cross, make sure people can identify you as a soldier of the cross.