August 4: Weekly Reading- The Thieves on the Cross (Jesus Interacts with the Criminals); The Remorseful & Insight Post by Kim Feld

  -   August 4, 2025

Walking in the Light: As we live in obedience to God’s Word, we reflect His light to the world.

Monday Verse

But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7 (NLT)

Monday Questions

In what ways can I walk more fully in the light of Christ in my daily life? How can I live in greater obedience to God’s Word, reflecting His light to those around me?

Monday Insight Post
by Kim Feld

The encounter between Jesus and the two thieves on the cross has always intrigued me. Did they know of Jesus before the crucifixion? Had they been part of the crowd that had heard His teaching? What’s their story? What brought them to such a dramatic and torturous end of life? My biggest question is, how did one thief really get who Jesus was while the other only saw his own suffering?

Not everyone who had an encounter with Jesus walked away changed. The two thieves are a poignant picture of that. Judas was another heartbreaking example. Proximity doesn’t necessarily equate to change. There are people all over the country who attend church every week, but no one would ever know that by the way they behave Monday through Saturday. Proximity is not enough.

One of our reflection verses this week is 1 John 1:7. Let’s back up a few more verses and take a look:

“This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. ⁶ So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. ⁷ But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin” 1 John 1:5-7 (NLT)

Let the words of these verses sink in for a moment: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. God calls each of us to step out of the darkness and begin living in a brand-new way. Both thieves knew they were going to die, but it seems that only one realized he deserved it. Truly experiencing Jesus makes us aware of our own sin – we see the chasm between our sin and His holiness and recognize that His cross is the only thing that can bridge it. Through His death and resurrection, He made a way for us to be forgiven and brought us from the darkness of our sin into the light of His love and mercy. He doesn’t want us to be casual observers; He wants us to be all in.

I hope you will join me in reflecting on the questions in our plan for today: In what ways can I walk more fully in the light of Christ in my daily life? How can I live in greater obedience to God’s Word, reflecting His light to those around me? Trust in the Holy Spirit to show you how to “walk in the light” through every circumstance that comes your way today.

Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach

New Hope Church
Lorton, Virginia
www.newhope.org