Plank-eyed Moment

The other morning two vehicles flew past me in a 40 MPH speed zone and I had a plank-eyed moment.

“I hope you both get tickets!” I said out loud. I figured saying it aloud, might make it happen. I looked at my speedometer. Yep. Right on 40. I wasn’t breaking the law.

To my knowledge, those two law-breakers got away without having to pay a penalty.

Imagine.

Selective Memory

Of course, I chose not to remember all the times I have exceeded the speed limit, broken the law, and deserved to pay the penalty. Selective memory.

Whenever I caution my son, Pie, about his speed, he tells me he drives fast because that is what he learned being a passenger in my car. We don’t call my 1985 Monte Carlo SS, Zoomer, for nothing, I guess.

At the moment the two cars whizzed past, instead of removing the plank from my eye, I chose to point out the speck in someone else’s. 

All Have Sinned

So, I’m sitting in my car feeling self-righteous that I wasn’t breaking the law by speeding, and I feel God tap me on the shoulder.

Here is what I believe God wanted me to consider.

While in my corner of Texas, the fines for speeding increase the greater you deviate above the set speed limit, in God’s eyes, all have sinned and fallen short. ALL.

Our sin separates us from God. There are no big sins, little sins where God’s righteousness is concerned. No incremental increase in the fine depending on how much you deviate from the law.

Sobering Thoughts

And the person who keeps every law of God but makes one little slip is just as guilty as the person who has broken every law there is. James 2:19 (NLT)

A gossiper is just as guilty of falling short of God’s law as a murderer. A little white lie separates us from God’s holiness as much as child molestation does. Sobering thought.

There is no sliding payment scale of punishment. We’re all guilty. We all deserve to pay the penalty of eternal separation from the Holy and Righteous Judge.

A sin, is a sin, is a sin.

But God

God made a way for our sins to be forgiven through the death of his Son Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. Jesus’ sacrifice paid the penalty that we deserve.

Jesus received the ticket for our speeding. He paid full price for our law-breaking so we wouldn’t have to. It was a debt we owed, but couldn’t pay. A debt Jesus did not owe, yet willingly paid.

Your Turn

Like me, do you have any plank-eyed moments where you need to remember that even though we may be driving within the speed limit right now, it isn’t always so?

Like me, do you also need to remember in God’s eyes, going over the limit by one mile is breaking the law, just as sure as driving 30 MPH over the limit is?

As law-breakers who have escaped the penalty because Jesus paid it for us, let’s remove the plank from our own eye before we comment on the speck of dust in someone else’s eye.

Grace.

Leave a comment below to share your thoughts on the subject. If you think others would appreciate reading this, please share it through the social media buttons.

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:3-5

I wish you well.

Sandy

Please enter your email address on the form located on the right sidebar to sign up to receive posts every Tuesday and Thursday. Thanks!

Photo by Tungsten Rising on Unsplash