Jury Duty

About once a week, I make a trip across town to have lunch with my wife.  I would like to do this more often, but her short lunch break and my long drive would prove to be an overwhelming daily endeavor.

In her workplace's breakroom, there is a small television that picks up only one channel.  Each time I arrive, the television is always turned on to Judge Mathis.  If you have never watched court t.v., know that you are missing an experience.  Needless to say, there are a few characters that appear in television courtrooms.

Even with the crazy cases brought before Judge Mathis, I can't help but find myself considering how authoritative his verdicts are.  In these trials, there are no lawyers, there is no jury, and Mathis has the final say.  The evidence is presented to him and him alone, and he makes a decision based on what has been presented.  It seems like a frightening responsibility, one that, in the context of eternity, is reserved only for the Lord.

Psalm 98:9 says,

"Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity."

I perhaps came as close to making an authoritative judge-like decision today when I attended my first jury summon.  The case never materialized, but as I sat there waiting to be questioned, I found myself praying that if I were picked, that the Lord would give me wisdom to make the proper decision in the case.  It was a feeling of responsibility that I did not anticipate, but my decision would have potentially heavily affected the life of the man on trial.

I am so thankful that it is the Lord who judges us and not man.  There is nothing that we can do and no evidence that we can present to the Lord to prove us as innocent and like Judge Mathis, there is no jury or lawyers present to decide or affect the outcome of the trial of our lives.  The verdict rests solely on our relationship with Jesus Christ.  As Paul has written, "There is none righteous, not even one."  This means that there is nothing that we can do to present a case before the Lord that is based on our own merits.  Thankfully, we know that with the Lord, we will receive a graceful, yet just verdict, and of course we are only made just through Jesus.