TODAY YOU'LL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE!

       Say that over to yourself a few times today.  "Today you'll be with me in paradise."
       Now, when Jesus said that to the criminal next to him, it was literally, today you will be with me in paradise.  They were a couple hours from the pearly gates.
       And at first, that was what kind of got to me.  What if today I was going to be with Jesus in paradise.  Even more, what if Jesus was saying that to me - even if it wasn't today?  What if Jesus had already guaranteed me a spot in paradise?  And what if He wanted me to know that today - how would that change what I did and how I thought?
        But then, as I started writing this, another thought popped into my mind (I'm fasting from sound today so a lot of random stuff is popping in to my mind).  What if "Today, you'll be with me in paradise"?  What if I may not be called up to heaven, but I could experience paradise (even if it's just a little taste) today right here in Lombard?  What if today, and every day, I could be with Jesus in paradise - until I finally an walking through the Paradise Parking Lot?
         Now, that makes today a little more exotic.  That gives me a new hope on the next 12 hours!