Police Devotional
“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree…” (I Peter 2:24)
An officer working an impound desk took a call from a man who wanted his car released from the lot. The officer asked for the car’s VIN number. The man gave it using phonetics such as “One George Three Charlie Robert…“ The officer was surprised that the man knew the phonetic alphabet and asked if he’d been a cop. He said, “No, but I’ve been arrested a bunch of times.”
As a cop, you’ve probably dealt with people who have “been arrested a bunch of times.” One drunkard was arrested so often that the police just made a copy of his booking card. Then when he was brought in—usually was too drunk to make any sense—they used the info off the old card to make a new card. They just changed the date, time, and location of arrest.
It’s too bad that people end up having a “record a mile long,” but here’s a good illustration of the truth in our passage. It’s about Jesus, Who “bare our sins in his own body on the tree.” You’ve probably heard many times that Jesus died for your sins. Did you ever stop to think, though, about what it actually means, that Jesus died for your sins?
Just for the sake of the illustration, let’s say you commit ten sins a day. That means thoughts, words, and deeds. Ten sins a day means 3,650 sins per year. Over ten years, that’s 36,500 sins. Over seventy years, that’s 255,500 sins. Multiply 255,500 times the world’s population of say, six billion, and the number of sins for which Jesus died is huge. If you try to figure in all those who have died throughout history, and all of their 255,500 sins, you almost can’t count that high.
Now go back to your own sins. If you don’t think your sins are that bad, do this: write down each sin you’ve ever committed in your life, even as a child. You may not remember them all, but you will remember some. Write them down. As you write, you may remember more sins. Write them down. You may remember some really disgraceful, embarrassing things you‘ve done. God knows about them, too. Write them down. Whatever sinful thoughts you’ve had, write them down, too. “The thought of foolishness is sin,” as it says in Proverbs 24:9. Be honest when you do this.
You’ll see then that you have “a sin record a mile long.” Each of your sins—and you don’t know the actual count—is offensive to a holy God. Each sin alone is enough to separate you from God: “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God” (Isaiah 59:2). Each sin alone is enough to condemn you to eternity in hell: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14).
Yet God in his love put all your sins on his Son, the Lord Jesus, and Jesus “bare our sins [including all of yours] in his own body on the tree.” Now do you see how meaningful it is that “Jesus died for your sins?” If you want to know how to have God’s forgiveness of your sins and eternal life by receiving Jesus as Saviour, please click “How do I go to Heaven?” on the sidebar.
Brian Miller 3/16/2015
Cleveland Baptist Church 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 216/671-2822