DAILY DEVOTIONAL – April 2, 2020
“How Do You Plead?“
Prayer: Almighty God, we know what we deserve from You. We know what horrible fate would befall us if You treated us as we have deserved. Thank you God for Your truly amazing mercy in Jesus Christ. It’s in His name we pray. Amen.
Scripture: Isaiah 53:4-6
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Devotional – “How Do You Plead?”
The news website www.dailymail.com ran a story back in 2016 about a man who has been to five different courts and racked up a $100,000 legal bills over a $250 speeding fine. Mustafa Al Shakarji said that after a four year battle he won’t rest until ‘justice’ is served.
Mr. Shakarji, from Townsville, Queensland in Australia, was pulled over and fined $250 for speeding in March 2012 after a police radar allegedly detected him doing 28 kilometers over the speed limit. He first appealed the fine in the Magistrates Court and when he lost he then took the case to the District Court.
The back and forth between him and police has continued ever since, accumulating a legal bill that is estimated to exceed $100,000. Now, after going through five different courts and losing a final appeal Shakarji said he will be the first person to take a speeding fine all the way to Australia’s High Court.
Despite representing himself, Mr. Al Shakarji, who was not at risk of losing his license over the infringement, had estimated the legal battle to cost around $20,000. However, experts think that once the costs incurred to the government are taken into consideration, the bill will be closer to $100,000.
Mr Al Shakarji said the case is now a matter of principal and that he does not intend to let it go until he believes ‘justice’ is served, no matter how costly.
I don’t know about you friends, but spending not only $100,000 in legal fees over a $250 ticket (not to mention whatever else has been sacrificed in Mr. Shakarji’s life dealing with this case for 4+ years) sure doesn’t seem worth it.
There is a very common expression that comes to mind when I read Mr. Shakarji’s story – “be careful what you wish for.”
You know friends, all of us want justice when we feel we are wronged, but are not so enthusiastic about it when justice is demanded of us and for the things we have done wrong. If true justice is to be served, that means every wrong doing by everyone would have to be paid tit-for-tat, eye-for-eye, and tooth-for-tooth. Justice means every wrong action, every wrong thought, every wrong word and every accidental mistake must be answered for and compensated for.
If we are honest with ourselves, the last thing any person wants is thorough and exacting justice. Every single one of us knows in our hearts that the list of injustices we have committed not only against God but against each other is immeasurable. All people are sinful, and we know the scales would never tip in our favor.
I often hear people say that when they get to heaven they intend to stand before the Almighty Creator God of the universe and demand answers to the many questions they have for Him. “Why did you let this happen God? Why didn’t you do this for me God? Where were you when I called God? How do you explain this God?” To think that God answers to any man is laughable.
Friends, the only reason we have the hope of seeing God and not perishing in an instant, and the only reason we have the sure hope of salvation and the promise of heaven is because God has not exacted true justice. God is just, absolutely, and when He said the consequence of sin is death He meant it. For that reason we all will die. However, true life exists not in the perishing and physical things of this world. True life exists in God Himself. He is life. He is love, and mercy and forgiving while at the same time holy and just. Instead of bringing the unbearable consequence of justice upon our heads for the sins we have committed against Him, God sent His Son Jesus to suffer the injustice of being convicted as a criminal when He was perfect in every way before God. He sent Jesus to suffer the injustice of being beaten and tortured and crucified as punishment for our sins. He sent Jesus to be forsaken and to die on the cross in our place, but to rise again on the third day in order that everyone who puts their hope and faith in Him would find eternal life and not damnation.
There is no higher court than that of the throne of God Almighty. The last thing we want from God is justice. We want mercy. The Good News of Gospel is that God has provided mercy and salvation in the blood of His Son Christ. Receive pardon my friends; receive Jesus.
Thanks for joining me for another daily devotional, and remember that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
