Pastor’s Pen: Wouldn’t you like to ensure a pardon?

One lovely summer’s evening in Canada, Iris and I were sitting outside a café enjoying a cool drink. Not far away was a ‘T’ junction with two large STOP signs on either side of the road indicating that drivers must stop. That’s the law.

We noticed that the vast majority of drivers didn’t obey the sign, the law. Most of the cars did what was known as a rolling stop - even police cruisers didn’t stop. Their actions reminded me of St. Paul’s words in Romans 3:23 ‘For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”

Those same police officers issued traffic tickets to drivers whom they observed not stopping at a stop sign - who had broken the law. Now the driver can protest his/her innocence but the truth is that if they don’t stop at the sign they are guilty and must pay a penalty which can have huge consequences on their insurance.

Calling the police officers hypocrites does not alter the fact that a driver who does not stop at a stop breaks the law.

A dear friend of mine recently received a ticket for speeding. She had a choice of paying the fine and get points on her licence, or do a four-hour course on the hazards of speeding. Most people, I’m told, who do this course, at first often just want to get it over with, but later realise the value of the course and become more aware of the dangers of speeding.

When it comes to God’s law, whether we care to admit it or not, we are all sinners, yes even the so called righteous among us. Read 1 John 1:8-9.

Sin, just like a traffic violation, carries with it a penalty. But just like a speeding violation, when we sin we have two choices. We can pay the penalty, which must be paid, or we can rely on the mercy of the Judge to pardon us. It’s called being ‘saved’ from punishment.

You might ask, what must I do to be saved? The answer is simple. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that he paid the penalty for our sins by his death at Calvary. That was God’s mercy and grace at work for us.

Simply put, God’s mercy put our punishment on Jesus, and God’s grace gave us what we didn’t deserve, His pardon.

Now that you know that, wouldn’t you like to make sure of a pardon?