I never got a speeding ticket until I moved to Florida—forty-plus years of driving without a single fine. Then, within a few months of moving here eight years ago, I got pulled over three times and got my first warning. Then, another warning. Somehow, I got out of an actual ticket…until this spring.
My ticketless decades are not because I was a saintly, speed-limit-abiding citizen for forty-odd years. Quite the contrary. I drove fast most of my adult life, B.C. and A.D. I remember going out in D.C.’s Georgetown when I was eighteen-ish, zooming up 16th St., once racing a car from a stoplight halfway home.
If only I’d grown out of it! Even after my transformative encounter with Jesus at 33, when my moral antennae were sharpened, and so many things changed in a snap, I drove fast. Baltimore beltway, suburban streets, and curvy country roads most of all, I often exceeded the posted speed limit.
I’d tell you it was because I’m Italian, so I couldn’t help it. “Mario Andretti is in my blood!” I’d protest.
Ya’ know, The Law is indifferent to my genetic heritage or other litany of excuses.
In other parts of my life, I was scrupulous in (my view) of morality, but when it came to driving, I was more than a little sloppy. I didn’t feel defiant, but the speedometer doesn’t lie.
Yet, where sin abounds, grace abounds.
Until it doesn’t. For my sake and yours.
Busted!
Last spring, after the flurry of Florida warnings, I got my first official ticket after a dramatic traffic stop at Isaac’s school. Can you imagine? Isaac and I were having our morning “dance party,” taking turns picking songs on our playlist and singing along, bouncing in our seats.
I wasn’t going 60, but I wasn’t going 15 either.
Just shy of Isaac’s school, I saw the red and blues. Not wanting to hinder car circle traffic, I drove slowly into the school parking lot. The officer didn’t discern my manners and warned me sternly over the cruiser megaphone like I was a fleeing bank robber. I stopped, collected my ticket from the angry officer, and requested a court date only to learn the $400 fine stood. Thankfully, the costly points were waived.
I’m much more careful now. Much. It took a scary traffic stop and a fat fine to stop me!
The many years of ticketless speeding, the warnings, the high drama traffic stop, the inconvenient court date, the waived points, the eventual high fine, and the fact there weren’t other consequences are all God’s mercy and grace.
Had I not finally heeded the costly consequences, who knows what might have happened?
Risky lawbreaking speeding and pricey tickets are one thing; God’s law-breaking is quite another.
Here we are in 2024, personally and collectively suffering ever-increasing warnings and consequences of our decisions.
Do we recognize that’s what’s happening, or are we looking for the benign, blaming, or natural explanation for it all?
For instance, “I can’t help it!” or “It’s climate change,” or this or that person’s (candidate’s) fault?
Do we know we’re “breaking divine law” and have been cruising defiantly on the promise of endless mercies without regard for how our behavior harms us or others? Or cheapens the cross?
Are we due for a hefty “fine” so we’ll put the proverbial brakes on?
Have we banked on God’s infinite grace and mercy to enable conduct we know is wrong, even if it’s hurting?
Whether we believe in the (relatively new) idea of once-saved-always-saved, salvation by grace alone, or naturally increasing and unmitigated consequences, it’s worth asking ourselves these questions and re/turning to God for forgiveness and help putting the brakes on.
"You know Christ came to take away our sins. He isn't sinful, and people who stay one in their hearts with him won't keep on sinning. If they do keep on sinning, they don't know Christ, and they have never seen him...God's children cannot keep on being sinful. His life-giving power[a] lives in them and makes them his children, so they cannot keep on sinning."1 John 3:5-6, 9 (CEV)
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