About four months ago I got a speeding ticket. Honestly I thought that I was still in a 45 zone when I got picked up doing 47 in a 35. I was probably only 150 feet passed the sign. Needless to say I was really bummed. I didn’t want to have to explain to my wife, how I was costing the family again with my own stupidity.

When I went to work, the people in the office were saying, “It is no big deal. If you have a good record, you’ll get an option of not having this ticket count and won’t have to pay the fine if you can go a whole year without another moving violation.” I figured that the very least with the letters that I got from the court that I would be able to at least be able to plea a lower penalty ONCE I GOT TO SHARE MY SIDE OF THE STORY.

So for weeks I had been stressing about what I was going to say in court. I didn’t see the signs as they were blocked by slow moving traffic. It is a 7% downhill grade in that section, and large trucks do block the signs from time to time.

So the day arrived. There I was in court. I was asked my name, I was asked if I pleaded guilty, (because even to get the hearing I did have to admit my guilt. And I was speeding even if completely unintentional). I gave my name and said “yes” to the question of guilty. The judge said, “You have an excellent record. Your fine is reduced from 154 to 125. Good day.”

That was it! It was over! It was the same reduction that I was offered before I even went to court. I DIDN’T GET TO SAY MY PIECE. What a rude awakening. I left feeling kind of stunned. What was the point of going downtown, taking time off of work, paying for parking, only to give my name and admit my guilt?

That got my thinking. I went back to the office, and told my boss about what happened. He asked, “Wasn’t there another person there to work out the deal for you? That is what happened for me. There was another guy who talked to me and then talked to the judge.”

“Nope, it was me, the judge and the clerk that recorded it.”

Obviously as believers in Christ, when judgment comes and we are standing before God, we do have an advocate for us. Jesus Christ will be in the middle. “My client pleads guilty, and I paid the penalty for him.” That is a great place to be.

What I thought would be shocking, is for those people who are thinking that because they were good people on their own, they are going to get to tell their story and get some kind of bargain. Thinking they are going to tell God, “I wasn’t as bad as so and so. I took care of my own. Look, somehow God it is your fault, because you didn’t make it that much more obvious to me. Maybe a few more signs for me, would have changed things.”

I don’t know how many people that I have talked to who won’t look at Christ, and what He did to pay the penalty for us on the Cross, and are banking on being able to plead their own case.

Without Christ, what can you plead but your name and guilt? Ignorance is no excuse. Especially in the US, I am not even sure if ignorance is truly possible. We have Bibles everywhere, Jesus shows up in country music songs, there is so much Christian radio and TV and a church on every other street corner. It is hard to miss Jesus if you are willing to look up, even the littlest. If you can’t plead Jesus when standing before the Father, it will be because you never wanted to take the time in this life to look into Him. What else can I say? Don’t bet on pleading your own case.