Our friend told me that he was challenged during Easter Week to pick a person from the Easter story and study and meditate on that person’s life.  He made an unusual choice—one of the men who reviled and made fun of Jesus when he was hanging on the cross (Matthew 27:39).

Immediately I wondered why our very kind and loving friend made that particular choice.  Surely this person in the Easter story was no man to emulate. Then he explained that for the first half of his life, he was like that man.  He had no use for Jesus.  He had nothing good to say about Him, and basically lived his life in a totally secular way with no regard for God. But circumstances changed in his life, and eventually he and his wife attended a Bible-preaching church and for the first time he heard the Gospel. His attitude began changing. It wasn’t long before he and his wife both placed their faith in Jesus and His death on the cross to pay for their sins.  Now with a repentant heart, he has nothing but shame and regret for how he lived those earlier years.  And you will not meet a person who loves the Lord more or serves Him more faithfully than our friend does.

What made the difference in his life? Getting to know who Jesus is! When he understood that Jesus, the Son of God, died on that cross to take his place, his whole attitude changed.

Take a moment to look at your own life. Would you call yourself a follower of Jesus? Or are you still living your life with no consideration for the fact that “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). It’s your decision!