Against the Law

Thirty five miles an hour in a thirty mile per hour zone! The evidence apparently was there, on film, in the possession of the South Wales Constabulary. And so I found myself, one Friday afternoon a few weeks back, on a Speed Awareness Course at the YMCA in Newport. Four hours of watching videos, group exercises and listening to the professionals, rather than three points on my license and a hefty fine. But I don’t need to say much more, because quite a few of you reading this have been on a course like this too, haven’t you? Some of you have even admitted to it!

I wasn’t on my own that afternoon. There were almost thirty others, from a seventeen year old to a chap in his seventies. They were male and female, of all shapes and sizes. The only thing we had in common was that we were all in the wrong. Our driving had broken the law. We were guilty. I was reminded of what the Bible says about our lives on a far greater scale. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

The afternoon started with us giving a list of reasons why we might occasionally (!) break the speed limit. They ranged from the understandable – to get someone to the doctors because they were ill, to the farcical – ‘I needed to get to the petrol station before I ran out of petrol’, but our instructor reminded us that there was no good reason to break the law and that the consequences of speeding and illegal driving were serious. Sometimes it leads even to death, either of the driver or of another motorist or a pedestrian. I thought again of sin and how we can always think of an excuse to justify our breaking of God’s law, but there is no excuse. What is more, “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).

By this point in the article, I know what you are beginning to wonder. Did he learn anything about driving, or did he spend the whole afternoon jotting down sermon illustrations? Well, yes, I hope I did learn a few things. Apparently wherever you are driving you are never more than 20 yards away from a clue to the speed limit on that road, particularly if you keep an eye on the lamp-posts. If they’re in a regular pattern, you should expect it to be thirty miles an hour. Otherwise there will be plate size signs on them declaring what the speed limit is. We are without excuse. But again I found myself thinking of spiritual realities. All around us; in creation, in our conscience, in the Bible, and ultimately through Jesus, God has spoken to us about our sin, and our need of His forgiveness. How good God is! How without excuse we are!

The best part of the afternoon was right at the end. The instructor told us that because we had completed the course, he could press a button on his laptop and send our details back to the office. That meant the slate was wiped clean. Our speeding transgression had been dealt with. No more punishment. No fine, no penalty points. Gone! Your sins and mine can be forgiven, dealt with in an instant too, but not by our doing a course, but by Jesus dying in our place, and giving us his righteousness. Are you still guilty … or forgiven?