When I was a
young child, I wanted to buy my mother a Christmas present. At the store, she
picked out a pair of pink earrings and walked away from me, so I could buy them
and “surprise” her. I took the earrings off the rack, but then had no idea how
to go about purchasing them, though Mom had given me money. So I put them in my
coat pocket and wandered around the store, wondering as I wandered. Suddenly I
was confronted by a very big and hideous man, the store manager, who asked me
if I was stealing the earrings. Such a thing had never occurred to me; I was
horrified. I told him what I was doing. I found my mom and she helped me check
out. The “surprise” was spoiled and I was quite frightened. My motivation
didn’t matter to the manager; he knew what he saw. It wasn’t the best
introduction to gift-giving, but at least I didn’t go to jail.
When I was
in junior high, we had to collect insects for a science assignment. I showed my
teacher a decapitated bumblebee and told him my younger brother had shot its
head off with a rifle. The science teacher called me a liar. In fact, the bee
had been crawling in the grass of our farm pasture; Brother lay on the ground
with the rifle barrel a few inches from the bee and fired. Headless or not, it terrified
me, as its giant stinger was fully extended. But our highly amused dad pinned
it to my shirt and made me wear it home to add to my collection. When my
teacher called me a liar, I was more afraid of him than I was of the bee, so I
didn’t argue. Facts and witnesses didn’t matter.
In a college
class my freshman year, I usually sat by Arnold, the only one in the class whom
I knew. Arnold had failed the class twice before and was glad of my offer to
tutor him once a week. When test time came, he sat as far away from me as
possible. We had no communication during test time. But, since he passed the
test, the teacher accused him of cheating – from me! The teacher didn’t even
call me as witness. He knew what he knew; Arnold could not have passed the test
without cheating, and I somehow was complicit.
Thief. Liar.
Cheater. I stood condemned in every court. Human judges often fail us. They are
missing either information or empathy or both.
Often as a
child, feeling absolutely alone in the midst of unfair accusations, I clung
tightly to the thought that God knew the truth. Only God knew the truth, but He
alone mattered. He was a fair judge.
When earth’s
judges are unfair, untruthful and unmerciful, it is joy to think that we have a
Judge who knows our hearts, intentions, motivations and actions. But that is
only when our hearts, intentions, motivations and actions are righteous. Sometimes
we don’t want a judge who knows all that. If our hearts are out of line, we
hope He doesn’t find out. Well, that’s a lost cause. So we pretend He won’t
find out.
Psalm 94
calls to evildoers:
Take notice, you senseless ones among the people;
You fools, when will you become wise?
Does he who fashioned the ear not hear?
Does he who formed the eye not see?
Does he who disciplines nations not punish?
Does he who teaches mankind lack knowledge? Ps 94:8-10 NIV
I make no
claim to sinless innocence. It was my heavy awareness of my own sinfulness and
my terror of God as judge that brought me to joyful acceptance of Christ’s
offer of the Glorious Trade – He became sin for me; I became the righteousness
of God in Him.
It is our
eternal joy to have a Judge who is honest and fair, yet merciful.
For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been
tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin. Heb. 4:15.
Our God will
never accuse us unjustly. Unfortunately, our deceitful and desperately wicked
hearts give Him plenty of material with which to accuse fair and square. But
somehow, He has turned it all around.
He, seeing
our guilt, kindly made up for it Himself. He took the sentence He would have handed
down to us; He offers us the reward He alone deserves. He
requires a response to His offer. “We beg
you, in Christ’s stead, be reconciled to God. God made him who knew no sin to
be sin for us, that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” II Cor 5:20,21.
How great our joy! How great our God!
--Lynda
Shenefield
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