Message from Scripture: 7/30/2020

Today’s message from Scripture comes from Luke 23:46-47: “Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ When he had said this, he breathed his last. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, 'Surely this was a righteous man.'”

In the face of death, Jesus entrusted Himself into the hands of the Father. This was nothing new for Jesus, as it was something He had willingly done all His life. What does this say to us about the life Christ lived, and the example He set for us to follow?

Jesus lived His life in harmony with the will of God; His thoughts, His heart, His actions, were all conformed to God and His commandments. All that Jesus was, all that He did, came from love, the love of God in Him, and His love for us. Through love, Jesus' life on earth, in its totality, was lived obediently to the will of God, a testimony to His relationship with God. “I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me"

It is entirely natural, then, here at His death, for Jesus to commend His eternal spirit to the Father, to whom He was entrusted throughout His life. It is no different for us today. A death that is commendable to God is one which comes from a life lived for Him. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).

There will be no role reversals in death. How you have lived in life declares where you will live in eternity. What, or who, have you committed yourselves to today? Will it commend you to God in judgment? As the song “Abide With Me” says, “Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes, Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies, Heav'ns morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee, In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me." God bless.

Robert