You've seen it. You've driven in it. You are only going 8 miles over the speed limit and there are cars buzzing around you everywhere. Where are the cops when you need them?
Imagine you're driving down the road, going only 53 miles when the sign says Speed Limit 45. The car on the left just raced past you. Cars are going around you because they think you are going too slow. Another car speeds by. Then you realize there is a cop on a motorcycle behind you, wanting to pull you over. You pull over and get a hefty ticket for going 53 miles, 8 miles over the speed limit. What about the other cars? Didn't the cop see them as they were speeding by? You ask him, why didn't they get the ticket. The cop assures you that they did wrong, and should have gotten tickets as well, but his radar gun was aimed at your car, not theirs. Bummer.
I worked at Eckerd Drugs, many years ago. I was very naive and didn't understand rules very well, but I was learning quickly. When at work, you really need to be doing work, and when there are no customers around to tend to, you need to be doing something else related to your job. A young girl who was a cashier who also worked there, decided she would read a book during work. She was successful in reading the whole book over a period of a couple of days. I wondered why she didn't get into trouble or even if she should have gotten into trouble, so, I decided I would try to read a book and see what would happen. Long story short, I almost lost my job!
Why do some people get caught while others don't? One thing to remember is that everyone will be caught, One Day, if not here on earth, it will be before the Judgment Seat of God!
It is an act of God's mercy when we are caught and penalized for wrongdoing. Cops are not omniscient nor are they omnipresent. Their radar guns can only be pointed at one car at a time, and that helps them to get an accurate record of how much the ticket will be, should one need to be given.
The Bible gives a story of an event recorded in John 21. Prior to this event, Peter denied his Lord. Jesus was asking Peter if he really loved Him. If Peter really loved Jesus, then he would tend to the flock of God's people. Jesus continued the conversation and told Peter what kind of death he would face. Then Peter asked a question. "What about him?" meaning one of the other disciples. Now that Peter knew what would happen to him when he was to die, what about the rest? Shouldn't they have the same thing happen to them? Peter may have been thinking, "Why me, Lord? Why do I have to die like this? What about the others? That doesn't seem fair."
Jesus response to Peter was basically, that is was none of Peter's concern how the other disciple would die. Peter is only responsible for Peter, not for the other disciple. The man who gets a ticket is only responsible for his own careless driving. I am responsible for what I do at work. If I do a good job, I will be commended. If I goof off, I might lose my job. No one can rescue me if I lose my job. I can't answer the question as to why the other cashier never got caught reading a book.
One day, I was running late in picking up my son from band camp. I was going down the road and wasn't paying attention to how fast I was going. I saw a cop on the side of the road. He had his radar gun aimed at me. My speedometer said I was going 52 miles when I looked at it. The speed limit was 40 miles per hour. I went past the cop and nothing happened.
Whenever I go past that spot, I always remember the ticket I never got, but should have. I don't know why I didn't get a ticket, but I am grateful that I didn't.
So, when you are going down the road, going the speed limit or within reason, and people speed past you and don't get a ticket, keep in mind that they will be fined on That Day. Unless they repent and put their trust in Jesus Christ, they will perish in hell one day. All of us will, unless we come to Christ in repentance and faith.
God, in His great mercy, doesn't want to have to punish us for our wrongdoing, but He has no choice. God is perfect and holy. His very being demands that He punish sin. So, in His great love for mankind, He sent His only Son, to live on earth for about 33 years, and then to die in our place. He died to take the punishment for our sins. Now we can go free, but only if we turn away from our sin and selfishness, and turn to God, trusting in Jesus Christ and His death on the Cross for our sins.
Just as I didn't get the ticket that I deserved, you and I don't have to experience the wrath of God, that we deserve. But we must respond to God.
For more information on the Gospel message, go to http://thegospelconversation.blogspot.com
or http://test4gp.wordpress.com
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