April 10, 2025 Devo

A few years ago, my wife complained to me that I drive too fast. I tried to explain to her that I really don’t drive that fast. It’s just that most speed limits are set way too low. I also reminded her I hadn’t had a ticket in 20 years. A couple of warnings, yes. But no tickets. Two days later I was stopped for speeding. It was as if God and my wife had collaborated to deal with my pride. The officer was kind but still gave me a ticket. He said I could pay for it online or in court. You can guess Wanda’s response of satisfied laughter. That hurt worse than the money it was going to cost me.
I waited a few days and checked online to pay it. It wasn’t there. I tried three or four more times over the next two weeks to get it paid, but it still didn’t appear. I called the courthouse and asked a clerk about it. She said they hadn’t received it yet, and I should give it a few more days. Still not there. Getting worried that I might have a warrant issued on me if I didn’t get it paid, I finally called a friend of mine on the force to check it out for me. After checking with the officer who wrote me up and at the courthouse, he called me back. “It’s nowhere to be found,” he told me. “Evidently the officer who wrote you up lost it.” “What does that mean for me?” I asked. He said, “Well, as far as we are concerned, it didn’t happen. Your violation doesn’t exist.” Do you have ANY idea how much joy that gave me to report that information to my wife? :-))))
That kind of joy can be YOURS. 1 John 1:9 says, “When we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.” That means when we admit to God with a broken heart that we have sinned, He is willing to forgive us for that sin. It doesn’t matter what we did. It doesn’t matter how many times we did it. It doesn’t matter how big of a deal anyone else made it out to be. God removes the sin from our hearts, and it is GONE. Justified. “Just as if it never happened.” But God didn’t “lose” our sin ticket. He PAID it. And He did so out of His own pocket. More accurately, with His own blood. Our guilt has been purchased fully and completely.
So if you’ve been walking around with a boatload of guilt, are you ready to turn it in for a heart full of joy? If you’ll confess, God will forgive. As far as He is concerned, it will be as if it never happened. And you get a brand-new chance to drive more safely. Oh yeah, and another thing. You might want to listen to your wife! That’s God’s Word for you today.