Not Immune

I’ve been driving for seven years now.  One of the things I’ve prided myself on was having never been pulled over.  That changed Saturday night. 

As I was coming home from picking up dinner, I cut through the same neighborhood I do most of the time.  I also rolled right through a stop sign instead of braking until I felt the jerk like I was taught at age 15.  Apparently a lot of people have been doing this in the same spot lately, as some of the neighbors have been complaining about it. 

I saw the lights flash behind me, and I really wasn’t sure what I did.  I guess because it was one of those roads I’ve taken so often, I had that “I know it like the back of my hand” mentality working against me.  I pulled over immediately after seeing the flashing lights, and still wondered if they were for me.  When the officer parked behind me, the wondering was over.

He informed me I disregarded the stop sign.  Then, he asked me if I was in a hurry or just rolled through it.  I admitted to just rolling through it.  He told me he was going to let me off with a warning (praise God for that!)  From there, I let him borrow my license and registration, and he brought them back with a blue piece of paper with fun information like this warning is going on your record on it.

As I think about how this played out, I think about God’s redeeming grace for us and how it works.  For one, He’s not interested in how long we go without sinning , nor does He keep a record of our sins; He is concerned with the condition of our hearts.

A key factor in accessing the forgiveness God has for us because of Christ is admission.  When I confess my sins to God, I am acknowledging them for what they are.  Because Jesus is my Lord, that forgiveness is always mine. 

Also, the more I sin, the more I feel immune to the consequences.  I am not immune.  In the same way the officer pulled me over, I wait for God to do that a lot of times.  Maybe I try to get away with something until it finally comes up in a sermon, or until I finally get to reading it in the Bible. 

We should never wait until we get stopped to change our ways.  Next time, we may not be let off with a warning.