Justice Served

A car on the 65 miles-per-hour freeway blows past as if you were walking.  Weaving in and out of traffic you lose sight of him.  Three miles down the road, flashing blue and red lights allow you to see the culprit sitting on the side of the road, window down while a trooper is furiously writing in a ticket-book.

It’s over, the final exam complete.  Across the aisle, sits that one guy who has copied and plagiarized his way through assignments and weekly lectures, assuming he showed up at all.  But, the final was a surprise.  It wasn’t a memory test at all – it was an essay.  If you didn’t know the concepts, you weren’t going to pass.  The slacker didn’t know the concepts.

A co-worker, recognized as being very political, throws people under the bus in a manner less hobby than business strategy.  She’s successfully crawled up the ladder with innuendo, misinformation and manipulation.  When they announce the new Vice-president of sales, you expect to hear her name – that’s just the way things happen.  But today, this position has been filled by someone you know to be a person of honor and integrity with a deep seated attitude of caring. Smugly, you look across the room at your co-worker.  That look on her face?  Priceless!



It seems more normal that the co-worker becomes VP of Sales, the exam is completed without ever knowing the scores of others and the speed demon is never seen again.  We complain.  We do everything the right way, according to us, and yet we cannot reconcile the facts when crime pays.

We wail, “Why doesn’t God punish our enemies?”  And of course, when we ask this question, we also are including the request for the satisfaction of seeing Him do it!

What if.

What if, while judging the Mario-Andretti-on-the-freeway, you knew?  If you were in his driving gloves, would your petal-to-the-metal be any different as you raced to the hospital praying that your child survives being injured in a drive-by shooting?

What if, while your disgust for the cheating student simmers, you knew?  What would your study habits be if just weeks after the semester had begun, you were suddenly required to care for your sister’s 3 very young children as she undergoes week after week of chemotherapy?

What if, as you gossip and deride the co-worker based only what you can see, you knew?  What would your life be if you were orphaned at six spending time in dozens of foster homes, many of which were abusive and cruel, while completely lacking a decent role-model?  What if you experienced extreme poverty and had learned a way to survive.  In the words of Christ on a cross, she knows not what she does.

There are times when I have acted counter to what I know or at least suspect, is the right behavior.  I know I'm not to judge.  I mean, it's not like I haven't been told once or twice.  Here are 37 biblical references.

I'll read these again - and again.  Then, as I go through each day, I will make every attempt to remember that I remain unaware of circumstances surrounding the behavior of others.  I will make every attempt to remember that each person I meet has un-surpassable worth to the God of Love and Grace - just as He does for me.  That love is represented on the cross where Jesus died – for ALL.