I had a run-in with the law yesterday. I look in my rear-view, and there's a cop--lights on, turn signal to the side of the road, all that. All that. He must have been tailing me for quite some time. I'm thinking, "What did I do?" I don't speed, my seatbelt was on, my registration is up to date, what?
Turns out, the cop says I failed to use my turning signal on a lane change. We were on a 4-lane highway, I changed lanes without signalling. My first reaction: "But--I never changed lanes!" And I meant it--I honest to God never remotely remember even changing lanes--let alone signalling about it. The cop was dismissive. "Yeah you did. You did 3 miles ago." Like the cop has never heard people deny committing a crime before. It must have be immediately obvious to both of us: I was definitely not paying attention. I don't faintly remember changing lanes, and for that matter this cop had been tailing me with his lights on for 3 miles and I didn't notice. I must have been in the zone...on the highway, listening to the radio, thinking about other stuff.
The cop let me off with a warning. I got the usual random search, license check, registration check, asked if it was my truck, asked where I was going, etc., and I'm not breaking any laws there. He seemed like a nice guy. He's just going about his business. And I was just going about mine. And I'm driving a little safer now: now I actually think about whether I habitually signal when I change lanes (I thought I did?). He is, after all, a Public Safety officer. Well, he did that. It's possible this traffic stop was more about the random search than it was having any intention to ticket me.
So now I'm wondering: when is it ever good enough?? I'm a law-abiding citizen, and yet I broke a law?? I have no faint recollection in my head of ever breaking that law. This goes back to our imperfect...sinful?...nature. Okay, I know I will never be able to achieve perfection. Without Christ, I am doomed. But...would God seriously send His Son to die for me...over a LANE CHANGE?!?? Not even the officer would write me an $80 ticket over this--let alone send me to eternal Hell. Granted, I admit: I've done worse things in my life than forget to signal. But what if I never did? Is even THAT enough to make me fallen, and not deserve the Kingdom of God?
So I'm thinking: no. It is not. That was an honest mistake. There are two kinds of imperfect: there's the imperfect in us that causes basketball players to miss free throws, or field goal kickers to miss field goals. And there's the imperfect in us that is sinful. If forgetting to signal a lane change was the only thing wrong I ever did in my life, I bet I probably would deserve Heaven, even without Christ's sacrifice. Okay, I broke state law. I goofed. But a goof is not really a sin. It is God who made us imperfect like that. It is not my free will that caused me not to signal--it's because I pulled a dumb-dumb.
It is because all have SINNED that all have fallen short of the glory of God. We are all imperfect--but that's not what lands us in Hell. It is because we have all SINNED. We have all done things worse than make a bad lane change.
Turns out, the cop says I failed to use my turning signal on a lane change. We were on a 4-lane highway, I changed lanes without signalling. My first reaction: "But--I never changed lanes!" And I meant it--I honest to God never remotely remember even changing lanes--let alone signalling about it. The cop was dismissive. "Yeah you did. You did 3 miles ago." Like the cop has never heard people deny committing a crime before. It must have be immediately obvious to both of us: I was definitely not paying attention. I don't faintly remember changing lanes, and for that matter this cop had been tailing me with his lights on for 3 miles and I didn't notice. I must have been in the zone...on the highway, listening to the radio, thinking about other stuff.
The cop let me off with a warning. I got the usual random search, license check, registration check, asked if it was my truck, asked where I was going, etc., and I'm not breaking any laws there. He seemed like a nice guy. He's just going about his business. And I was just going about mine. And I'm driving a little safer now: now I actually think about whether I habitually signal when I change lanes (I thought I did?). He is, after all, a Public Safety officer. Well, he did that. It's possible this traffic stop was more about the random search than it was having any intention to ticket me.
So now I'm wondering: when is it ever good enough?? I'm a law-abiding citizen, and yet I broke a law?? I have no faint recollection in my head of ever breaking that law. This goes back to our imperfect...sinful?...nature. Okay, I know I will never be able to achieve perfection. Without Christ, I am doomed. But...would God seriously send His Son to die for me...over a LANE CHANGE?!?? Not even the officer would write me an $80 ticket over this--let alone send me to eternal Hell. Granted, I admit: I've done worse things in my life than forget to signal. But what if I never did? Is even THAT enough to make me fallen, and not deserve the Kingdom of God?
So I'm thinking: no. It is not. That was an honest mistake. There are two kinds of imperfect: there's the imperfect in us that causes basketball players to miss free throws, or field goal kickers to miss field goals. And there's the imperfect in us that is sinful. If forgetting to signal a lane change was the only thing wrong I ever did in my life, I bet I probably would deserve Heaven, even without Christ's sacrifice. Okay, I broke state law. I goofed. But a goof is not really a sin. It is God who made us imperfect like that. It is not my free will that caused me not to signal--it's because I pulled a dumb-dumb.
It is because all have SINNED that all have fallen short of the glory of God. We are all imperfect--but that's not what lands us in Hell. It is because we have all SINNED. We have all done things worse than make a bad lane change.
