“I assure you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” –JC
Luke 23:43
For just a moment I considered not using this statement for this “Retweeting Jesus” Blog series. I thought to myself, “what a strange tweet that would be to receive.” I thought to myself, “Jesus wouldn’t Tweet this out for the public to read…He was just talking to one of the criminals on the cross next to Himself.”
But then I got to thinking…resulting in what is written below…
This could be a Tweet that He sent out! “I assure you, today you will join me in Paradise.”
At first I thought about this retweet at just a surface level. I thought about how Jesus wouldn’t want to Tweet this for all the public to read, because it sounds like a false promise to some or maybe even many of the recipients. He wouldn’t want to assure someone on accident about Paradise/Heaven and give them some kind of false hope about their eternal home. Right?
But here’s the deal. In this series, and with combined thinking about Jesus and His Twitter followers…there wouldn’t be any accidental false promises being received by anyone who actually received the Tweet. Because anybody who receives the New Tweet that He would have sent would be a “Follower.” To receive a Tweet Message from Jesus means that you ARE a follower of Jesus.
The Bible is clear. To be a Follower of Jesus you must be someone who does the will of the Father. I blogged about this in RT@JesusChrist #6.
If Twitter were a real thing back in Jesus’ day someone wouldn’t be able to search for “JesusChrist” and then just click follow for the heck of it. In this one case…there would be special circumstances. Jesus is the Son of God, the King of Kings, the eternal Judge, the Lord of Lords. To follow Him, you must do what He says. Jesus was clear about this when He was a real man walking around in what we call the Middle East or Mediterranean area today. Here is a reminder of the some of the things He said…
“Why do you call me Lord, when you don’t do what I say?” Luke 6:46
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father.” Matthew 7:21
Jesus’ brother seemed to unknowingly write a “Twitter Rule about Jesus.” James wrote “Do not merely listen to the Word of God and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James 1:19. If I could rewrite that statement (Just pretending…I have no desire to change God’s Word) for the purpose of making it an official Twitter rule about clicking the “Follow” button of Jesus on Twitter…it would look like this. As you click the “Follow” button to follow JesusChrist and thus receive His Tweets, a window would pop up saying this. “If you click the follow button you are stating that you are a true follower of Jesus Christ. A true follower of Jesus Christ does not just receive His Tweets only, a true follower of Jesus Does what Jesus Tweets…If you accept this reality then please check the box and click “Follow Jesus.” You will receive a confirmation that says, “Following Jesus.”
For fun I almost want to add to the sentence above….”Jesus will then literally move into your heart and soul and go with you everywhere you go, He will be “watching.” (Insert haunting laugh here.)
No faking being a follower of Jesus Christ. We can’t fake the King out.
So…this Retweet. “I assure you today, you will be with me in Paradise.”
There’s no false promise in this Tweet. But you ask, “What if I don’t die today? Then how could I join Him in Paradise TODAY?”
Jesus said, “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done, on EARTH as it is in Heaven.”
If you don’t die today and thus can’t LITERALLY join Jesus in Paradise/Heaven today. Jesus’ assurance of joining Him in Paradise today, still stands true. Jesus lives in you and is asking you to bring paradise on earth. (Thy Kingdom…that is paradise…come on earth as it is in Heaven.)
“I assure you today, you will join me in Paradise.”
What are elements of Paradise? Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control…among many other wonderful things.
Can you, TODAY, choose to be a person of Love? Can you, TODAY, choose to be a person of Joy? Can you, TODAY, choose to be a person peace?Can you, TODAY, choose to be a person of Patience? Can you, TODAY, choose to be a person of Kindness? Can you, TODAY, choose to be a person of Goodness? Can you, TODAY, choose to be a person Faithfulness? Can you, TODAY, choose to be a person of Gentleness? Can you, TODAY, choose to be a person of Self-Control?
Jesus lives in you. He says He will be with you always. If you choose today to live the qualities of Paradise/Heaven, then you literally bring Heaven to Earth. You literally bring God’s will and His Kingdom on Earth and live it out TODAY.
You agree that Jesus is and will be at work on earth all day today right? So if you choose to join Him today in His work and His ways, then you will be with Jesus today…doing the things of paradise.
“I assure you, Today you will be with me in Paradise!”