Which Thief? (NKJV)

"Oh, of course, I intend to be saved sometime, but there is no use being in a hurry about it,” a young man said when asked about the state of his soul. “There is always a chance, even at the last minute. Remember the dying thief,” he said carelessly. “Which thief?” he was asked. “I had really forgotten there were two. I mean the saved one,” was the reply, as an anxious expression came over his face. “Yes, one was saved, and is in Heaven now. The other, who had an equal opportunity for salvation, is wailing in Hell. What guarantee do you have that you will spend eternity like the one, and not the other?” It was a word fitly spoken, an arrow that pierced his conscience. The young man was led to see the foolishness of further procrastination, and that night he was saved for eternity through repenting of his sins and trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour and Lord. Thousands like him forget that there were two thieves. They remember the mercy of God that saved the one while forgetting the judgment of God dealt out to the other. They wander on carelessly, hoping to be saved at the last hour, but in the end die in their sin and are damned forever. They heard the gospel of God’s grace often, but rejected it until it was too late. We now ask, which thief would you be like? We remember speaking to a very distinguished lady who, when told the way of salvation, “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21), replied indignantly, “You do not mean to say I have to go to Heaven like the dying thief, do you?” “No” we replied, “you do not have to. But if you reject Christ, you will have to go to Hell like the other.” We would remind the reader: • The saved thief believed on the Son of God and is with Christ now. • The lost thief scorned the Saviour, and is in the depths of woe. You WILL be with one or the other for eternity. —H.A.I. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.