Interstate driving! You just have to love it. I do lots of commuting so I have learned to make it a good friend of mine.

As I was approaching one spot along the interstate today, I began to look and see if that lovely car might be sitting there. That’s none other than the cop car. It’s a popular spot for them to park and watch, so I’ve learned to be extra careful at this particular place as I don’t have any desire to have a visit with one of these authority figures.

There is a fun fact that you must understand about me. You see in all of my many years of driving, I have never gotten a speeding ticket. So I guess you are impressed with my wonderful ability to always obey every traffic law. Yeah right, you say. What you’re really thinking is the fact that I have gone over the speed limit a time or two, but I just haven’t ever gotten caught. Now that’s more like it. I’m going to be transparent and honest, and I must confess, that is the truth. There have been plenty of times that I’m rolling down the interstate, enjoying the beautiful day with my music going. As a musician, there always has to be music involved. Then I happen to look at my speedometer and realize I better slow it down because I don’t think the cop is going to believe me when I blame it on the music. That won’t get me out of a ticket.

I promise I am going somewhere with this. I just like letting you into my world. It’s a fun place to be, so accept my invitation. So get ready for the truth bomb quickly approaching and ready to detonate.

We do the same thing in our own personal lives. How many times do we do things that we know are wrong, but yet we still continue to do them anyway simply because we don’t get caught? We’re not really repentant or sorry for what we’ve done. We’re just glad that no one has found out about it…yet.

There are seasons in our lives that God extends His grace to us in hopes that we will be repentant and turn from what doesn’t please Him. We don’t experience any consequences from our sin so we think He must be okay with it or better yet, we think that we are able to hide it from Him. We think that He will let us off the hook. We’ve not been that bad in our eyes. Thinking in these patterns is the furthest thing from the truth that there is. Nothing is hidden from God. Absolutely nothing!

There will come a time in our lives that God will force us to be honest with ourselves and examine what is breaking our fellowship with Him. Sin breaks that close fellowship with Him. In this season, God, out of His great love for us, allows us to experience consequences. He does this not because He hates us, but because He loves us and doesn’t want anything to come between us and our relationship together. If we never suffered any consequences from our sin, then we would never learn. We would continue living however we wanted to without giving a second thought to us breaking the heart of God. God isn’t punishing us. He’s perfecting us to be a reflection of Himself to the world around us. He does this all because of love. His pure love for us.

So let me offer a challenge to you to examine your life. Are there some changes that you need to make in order to bring things that are displeasing to God out into the open so that you can deal with it, turn from it, and move forward in your life? Don’t wait until you begin to experience consequences. Allow God into those tough places now so that you can begin to move forward in freedom and forgiveness. Yes, it is possible. It might not be fun to deal with now, but it will be worth it in your future.

So when you see a cop, then think of me. And for what it’s worth, remember that you heard it from a little bird to slow it down, and for Pete’s sake, don’t blame it on the music (because you know that isn’t the truth).

Disclaimer: Toby Mac, Mandisa, Matthew West, and Danny Gokey will not help pay your ticket for you no matter how much you love their music. 😊