Two Destinies

There have been a lot of times in my life that something has happened where I have said, “Must have been fate,” or, “Wow, that was good luck.” However, did we ever think that maybe those things that happen in our lives are actually our destiny? I mean really, that person that you met, then marry, was that by chance or was he/she your destiny? I know that for me, Dawn was my destiny. The love of my life.

It wasn’t by chance that we met in that piano class at OSU. It wasn’t by chance that we spent a whole quarter just becoming friends before ever going out. It wasn’t by chance that she was seeing someone and I was seeing someone before we ever went out. It wasn’t by chance that we liked a lot of the same things, had a lot of laughs together, had a lot of the same friends. No, as I look back 36 years to that first meeting together, I’d say that was destiny. That was God orchestrating a meeting of two people.

Did you ever think about the “destinies” in your life? We all know that Jesus came to this earth and He died on the cross. However, something that has struck me just recently was that He had a destiny with a certain individual. There was one who had an appointment with Him that didn’t really know he had an appointment with destiny. This man was going through life. He maybe grew up in a poor family. Didn’t have much like the other kids. That could have led him to do what he did as an adult. You see this man was a thief.

As a child, he probably had a lot of friends who played with him. Helped him through school. Helped him with his homework. As he grew and progressed through school, he started noticing girls. He didn’t have much money and got messed up with some wrong friends. There may have been one in particular that showed him how to get riches without working. They would scope out a place and then strike. It was there that he crossed a line and started living a life of stealing, a life on the run, looking over his shoulder and wondering if he’d get caught.

One day his luck ran out. He got caught and the punishment was given, not only to him but also to his friend. Death by crucifixion. How do you face that? How do you prepare for that? How do you get ready for that? Maybe he got the whip a little before walking up that hill of the skull. We don’t know for sure, what we know is that there were two thieves on the crosses with Jesus that day. One started hurling insults and jeers at Jesus like the crowd. The other told the one to shut his mouth that Jesus had done no wrong. They were getting what they had deserved, but Jesus was innocent.

The one thief knew who Jesus was. He knew why He was there. He knew why he himself was there. He turned to Jesus and asked, “Remember me when you enter into your Kingdom.” Jesus told Him that He’d be there. You see Jesus had to come. He had to go to the cross. He had an appointment. He had a destiny with a man on that mountain that day. There was a thief who needed forgiveness. There was a thief who needed the compassion of Christ. There was a man that needed the Grace of God extended to Him. There was a thief that needed true Love extended to Him that day. When everyone else had forsaken him, he needed to know that there was one who would love him unconditionally.

Let me tell you, that there is a destiny in your life today. Jesus has an appointment with you today. That’s why He came. If you were the only person that needed saved. If you were the only one that needed forgiveness. If you were the only one who needed the blood shed. If you were the only one that needed His love. If you were the only one that needed His grace. If you were the only one that needed washed. He would have come, hung on that cross and when you called out to Him, He would say, “Today you’ll be with Me in paradise.” How about it? Will you fulfill your destiny and start walking and doing what God is calling you to do? Will you cry out to the Lord today? Will you reach out to the cross today? It wasn’t “kismet” that Dawn and I met, it was destiny. It wasn’t “luck” that I heard about Jesus and HIs forgiveness, it was destiny. Now, you’ve heard, what will you do.

Pastor Rob