But I Didn’t Do Anything Wrong!

Last Saturday, my son and I drove up to north Jersey to go to a wild turkey hunting seminar.  It was a gorgeous day for a 2-hour drive and to spend some time with my son.  We stopped at McDonalds a few miles short of the Fish and Game Center for some burgers and fries and back on the road.  It’s hard to imagine that that area is in New Jersey.  If you’ve never been to the northwest corner of the state, it’s full of rolling hills, farms, and small towns. 

Shortly after going through a town I saw lights go on in my rearview mirror.  Like any law-abiding citizen I pulled over to let the cop chase down the guy.  The cop pulled over right behind me.  There must be some mistake!  I turned to my son, “that light was green wasn’t it?”  My son confirmed.  “License and registration”.  I kept telling myself “this is a mistake”.  I handed over everything and waited.  A few minutes later the officer returned to my truck door, “why are you in such a hurry?”  Now I know this is a mistake, the light just turned green and my old truck couldn’t possibly be speeding in that short a distance.  He then explained to me what I had done wrong.  The car in front of me had made a right turn into the gas station and I went around him on the left and when I did I crossed the double line.  On March 6, 2011 I got my very first ticket.  After 23 years with a perfect driving record and now had a ticket.

How many times have we said something like “I didn’t do anything wrong”, “that’s not my fought”, or “but he did something worse than me”?  I know in my 23 years of driving I have broken numerous laws.  So why do I get so upset when I get called on something that I perceive as small? 

The Bible reminds me that I can’t use the phrase “I didn’t do anything wrong”.  1 John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.”  That’s kind of depressing if you really think about it.  No matter how good I think I am I just don’t measure up. John is telling us that it’s impossible for us to be perfect.  I really hate when someone tells me I’m wrong.  For me, it’s a pride issue.  Ok, maybe I messed up but I can fix it.  No I can’t!  There is nothing that I can do to erase my sin.  I almost wrote mistakes, but doing sin isn’t really a mistake as much as it is a choice and all to often I choose to go against God’s law.

I’m glad God doesn’t leave me down in the dumps, look at verse 9, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  There’s hope!  No, nothing that I can do, but there is hope that our history can be deleted.  We’ll i may still have some issues I have to deal with on earth but I know that God has taken away the eternal punishment.  A new start, back to a clean driving record!

The officer did write me up for a lesser infraction, I had something hanging from my rearview mirror.  I still had a $54 fine but no points on my license.  I don’t know if that office was a believer or not but he did teach me a lesson on grace.  I’m glad God gives me grace.  It would be nice to keep my clean driving record but I’m more thankful to be offered a clean life record.

~Walter E. Homan