Justice for all

Deuteronomy 16:19

You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

Psalm 33:5

He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.

Psalm 37:28

For the LORD loves justice,And does not forsake His saints; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.

Ah justice. It seems nowadays that justice is only for the criminals and rarely for the victims. We have folks blaming everything and everyone for their crimes.....everyone that is, except themselves. No one wants to take responsibility. It was this, that, or the other thing that made them do it. Some may even say the devil made them do it. The fact is, everyone makes decisions as to what they are going to do. Some may not be sober enough to make a rational judgment, but somewhere they did make a rational judgment. This past weekend in San Antonio, Texas a young man who'd never been in trouble with the law (19 years old) decided he was going to get plastered (drunk) friday night. He got into his car and the last thing he remembers is going to a local burger place. He got onto the freeway GOING THE WRONG WAY. He hit a car head on with a family in it. The mother and the two year old died. When he sobered up and they told him what he had done he sobbed and sobbed. He will live with that the rest of his life and even though it was an accident it happened because he chose to drink and then drive. (Let me just tell you that could have been me. I drove like that too in the past.) For those two who died, there MUST be justice. Being drunk is the reason it happened, but it's not a valid excuse to give the family of the folks who died. More and more the laws of this land are turning against Christian morals and justice. When there is something that you can vote on that will make a statement as to what you believe, you'd better do it. In Texas today we are voting on some propositions to our state constitution. One is to define marriage in the state of Texas as between ONE man and ONE woman........and to NOT recognize any marriage from any state that is not one man and one woman. It's not only against homosexual marriage, but it's against folks having more than one wife or husband, or from marrying their dog, cat, or something else. The law does allow anyone close to someone (family or live in "friend") to be on their insurance, or to get benefits from someone as does a spouse, but they may not call themselves a spouse in the state of Texas and will not be recognized as such.
We are to love everyone and we aren't supposed to hate someone because they are different or don't believe what we do........but we shouldn't have to conform to less than 5% of the nation's population either (the national percentage of homosexuals in the US is between 3 and 5%......perhaps more or less in different areas but as a whole those are the numbers). I was appalled to learn how many sex offenders there are in the county I live in. I do believe there should be a distinction between a child rapist and an 19 year old with a 16 year old girlfriend.......although there wouldn't be a problem at all if they would abstain from sex until they are married. They recently caught a professor (in his 50's) from a college down here soliciting a 13 year old girl on line. Little did he know it was really an FBI agent posing as a 13 year old. We need to cry out for justice for the victims. There's too much focus nowadays on the criminal and his rights rather than the victim and their rights. If you let justice take a backseat to "feelings" and whatnot, you will punish the victim and praise the perpetrator. We cannot have that. We should not stand for that. Although more and more victims are being heard and tougher sentences are being imposed. I think the little girl's name was Jessica (who was raped by a known sex offender and then buried alive to die in the dark underground) from Florida that was killed a year or so ago. There are new laws being created in her name (Jessica's law) that mandate a 25 year sentence for anyone raping or molesting a child under the age of 14 or 13......not sure which. That's a step in the right direction. We as Christians should love both the victim and the one who did the crime. We should pray for both, but we shouldn't pervert justice in any form or fashion. I was molested as a child, but I'm not a molester. I was way screwed up for many years and did other crimes, but I made my choices. Like the drunk driver from SA I was caught........but not in an accident. I know, had I been in an accident that took someones life, I would have been held accountable and rightfully so. My mom and other family members, even folks I didn't know were praying for me. I used to get so mad because I didn't get away with anything. Ultimately God can forgive anyone.......yes anyone. Jesus died for the victims and for the perpetrators as well. I know it's kind of morbid but once in a while I read the last statements of death row guys who's sentences have been carried out. One thing that rings true in 99 percent of them..........they ask forgiveness not only of their victims and their families, but they seek God's forgiveness as well. Many did horrific crimes, raped and murdered old folks and children.........but God can, and does forgive them if they come to Him. Jesus said that he who comes to Me, I will in no way cast out." (John 6:37) Would they have repented if they were given life sentences instead of death? In general population many would have been killed by other inmates and would have never repented of their crimes......neither to the families or to God. Is it better that a guy spend life in prison and never repent or be sentenced to death which may ultimately cause him to think about facing God......and therein with that reflection cause him to repent?
We need to be careful that we're not so zealous for justice that we forget about God's forgiveness. There was a lady that was sentenced to death (here in Texas) for some crimes (she murdered a guy with a claw hammer while high on drugs) and that sentence was carried out a few years ago. She was born again in prison and shared Jesus with many on death row......and many came to know Jesus through her testimony. Her lawyers filed papers to stop the execution and many Christian leaders were in her corner so to speak. I'll never forget her words as long as I live. Her petition was turned down and someone was interviewing her. She said, "I know I took a man's life, and the law of the land says I must die for it. I was convicted and sentenced accordingly. It was a terrible thing that I did. But one thing I know.....I will pay for my crimes with my life, but I will soon be with Jesus because He forgave me. This punishment is for justice for the family. If the Lord thinks I need to still be here witnessing for Him, then I will be. But if it's my time to go be with Him, I'll not beg to stay here. And I am ready to meet Him in the sky!" She was executed a few days later. She took responsibility for what she had done. Even though she wasn't that same person anymore who took that man's life, she accepted her punishment. But death here, for a Christian, means life there......in heaven. Let the Lord lead you. If you wronged someone before you were a Christian, go to them and ask their forgiveness. Many years ago (early 90s) I used to go with someone and steal sports cards from a local comic book store. The man there was always really nice to us, but we stole from him just the same. In the year 2000 after having been following the Lord for almost two years, the Lord put it on my heart to go make it right for what I had stolen. He never caught me.........he never knew I had stolen from him, but here the Lord was telling me to go ask his forgiveness, and give him money. As I went in to his store, I was terrified. I was also very ashamed. I didn't know what words I would speak or even how to approach him. But I asked for him and he came out to talk to me. I confessed my crime to him. He just stood there looking at me. Then he fumbled around with his words, and said, "Ah that's alright.....those kind of things are write offs for me anyway." I could have left at that point, but that's not what God sent me in there to do. I wrote him a check (and it was more than I could really afford at the time $150 or more as I recall) and gave it to him. He was shocked. I apologized again and told him that Jesus loves him. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done. But it was indeed very rewarding. I've apologized to my relatives (mostly cousins) who were younger than I, and who saw the bad example I was. I wish I could have been a better role model. I was very messed up at the time and hated everything and everyone.......the last thing on my mind was being a role model. I can only be the best witness for Jesus that I can be now. I cannot change what I did in the past, I can only purpose in my heart not to ever be there again. Forgiveness is a wonderful thing. Justice is necessary, but forgiveness is always available as long as you're still breathing. Have a wonderful day and God bless. :-) Pastor James