Heart Thoughts from Helen

HEART THOUGHTS...from Helen- March 17
...that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ's cross..." Colossians 2:14 (THE MESSAGE)

There it came, the dreaded blue flashing light; and it was RIGHT BEHIND ME. I glanced quickly at the speedometer. My speed was not over the limit. What in the world have I done now? As my brow furrowed, I took my foot off the accelerator and pulled slowly into the dirt parking lot of the roadside nursery, thoughts flashing through my mind.

Who is passing by that knows me?

What have I done?

Lord, we don't have the money for this...whatever it is.

What a morning!

Cars sped by as the young patrolman slowly approached my side of the car. I could have assured him that I wasn't going to shoot him as so many news reporters dreadfully testify. Their caution is surely understandable. These things flittered through my consciousness as I began to search for my license, watching my rear view mirror inadvertently.

"Ma'am, may I see your license, registration and insurance card?"

"Certainly", as I started digging through the glove compartment. This one...expired, that one...expired.

"I'm sure it's here somewhere." I handed him what I thought was the correct information only to find out that our tag expired in '09, the year we moved from McCormick to Greer. OH, GREAT! No up to date sticker on license plate. My heart beat faster and my face turned crimson. "Dumb old woman"...I just knew his thoughts toward me bordered on my own.

Long story shortened: Ticketed ...150 bucks. Show up in court next month with proof of insurance and maybe the judge will pardon. Don't show up, pay the fine.
For a month that blue ticket ticked me off. Turns out there had been a snafu in our records when we moved, resulting in us not receiving a tax notice, which led to our failure to pay taxes, blah, blah, blah. Now I had to go court. Since Dennis handles paperwork in our home, he immediately went to highway department and took care of the problem, and went with me to Summary Court in Simpsonville to appear before the magistrate to explain the situation.

We arrived on time. A lot of other people did also. I thought, "There's a lot of folks going through the same hassle we are; our taxes are at work on the highways and in the patrol cars". We waited and as the room filled up, I took my place in line to present my explanation and rectification of the problem. The kind faced judge sitting behind the elevated huge desk in his black robe listened to each case in this traffic court. As I waited with my manila envelope containing proof of paid taxes and my blue summons ticket I couldn't help but think of the ultimate judgment of my soul, taken care of long ago. I approached the man in black, smiled and handed him my ticket and explained the circumstances surrounding it. He looked at the ticket, and he glanced at my insurance, registration, proof of taxes paid and said, "I'll take care of it. Next...."

I turned around, smiled at my husband and we walked out of the traffic court room, freed of penalties, reconciled with the law of the land.
Praise God my debt has been paid. Jesus 'took care of it' on the cross. I accepted His judgment of my failure to pay the penalty for my sin. My soul is worth much more than $150 and He died for me, releasing me to live for him who died for me, not dreading the enemy of my soul riding up behind me, flashing his blue lights and accusing me of failure. "I'll take care of it", is music to my ears.