Two Choices | Restoring Warriors Daily Devotional | Matthew 27:38

Jesus was not crucified between two innocent men. He was placed between two rebels—two sinners who deserved their sentence. And right in the middle of them was the only innocent One.

On one side was a man who stayed hardened. On the other was a man who humbled himself. Both were close to Jesus. Both saw His suffering. Both heard His words. Both were running out of time. But only one surrendered.

Proximity to Jesus is not the same as surrender to Jesus. You can be near church, near Christian community, and near the Word, while still keeping your heart closed. The cross forces a decision; there is no neutral ground.

Today, we ask: Have you bowed your heart to Him?

Reflection Question:

Where am I close to Jesus outwardly, but still resisting Him inwardly?

Daily Challenge:

Identify one area where pride is keeping you from surrender, and confess it honestly to God today.

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Transcript

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All right, both were running out of time, but only one of those men chose to surrender. Hey, welcome back to the Restoring Warriors Daily Devotional where every day we challenge men to boldly pursue the calling that God has placed on their lives. We do that in a couple of different ways at Restoring Warriors. So in addition to a daily devotional, we also have a weekly in-person gathering in Arvada, Colorado. If you're in the Denver area, we'd love to have you join us. And we also have a powerful online community over on the school platform. So to get involved, go to RestoringWarriors.com, click on join a group, and we can direct you to a number of different ways that we get together and we gather in person and online at Restoring Warriors. All right, let's dive back into it. We're in Matthew 27, verse number 38 today. It says, Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. All right, so Jesus, he wasn't crucified with two innocent men. No, these weren't innocent men. He he was placed between two rebels, two guilty men, two sinners that deserved the sentence, presumably, that they were giving. And right in the middle of them was the only innocent one of the bunch, right? And that that image right there, I think it really tells the story of humanity. On one side was a man who stayed hardened, right? And on the other was a man who humbled himself down. And both were close to Jesus, both saw his suffering, they were in his proximity, both heard his words. All right, both were running out of time, but only one of those men chose to surrender. And that's a sobering picture, what should be a sobering picture for every man. All right. Proximity to Jesus isn't the same thing as surrender to Jesus, as proclaiming and confessing that Jesus is Lord. All right, you can be near a church, all right. You you can be around Christian people, you can be around worship, you can be near scripture. Hey, you might even be in the word, but you can still keep your heart closed. You can control that. All right. The question isn't simply, am I around Jesus? The question is, have I actually bowed my heart towards Jesus? And the cross, it forces a decision. All right, there's no neutral ground. One rebel mocked, one rebel repented, one died in pride, and one died in faith, and Jesus was close enough to save them both. All right, and every man has to decide what they're gonna do with the Savior in the middle. All right, will we keep defending our sin, our pride, our bitterness? Will we keep defending our control? Or will we humble ourselves and say, hey Jesus, remember me? Remember me? All right, the the two crosses beside Jesus, they're meant as a reminder, to remind us that we're all guilty. All right, but we're not all surrendered. Grace is available, but pride still has to fall. All right, and I want to challenge you, men, today. All right, I the challenge for today is to identify one area, one area in your life, shouldn't be hard to find one, where pride is keeping you from surrender. All right, and I want you to confess that honestly to God today in prayer and then make a concrete movement to remove that area from your life, to humble yourself down. All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I pray that you soften my heart. Don't let me stand close to you while still resisting you. Lord, teaching me to surrender fully, to repent quickly, and to trust you and to trust your grace completely. It's in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Hey, thank you for tuning in today. If you were encouraged by our devotional, I encourage you, make sure you like, make sure you subscribe, send one to a friend, leave a comment. It all helps us in the algorithms and helps us get in front of more people and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's an absolute pleasure doing ministry with you each and every day. And I can't wait to see you on the next one.