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I am sure that many of the small country of Morocco were please with the birth of the new princess the second child of the happy couple. For one reason or another whenever royalty has children everyone gets excited.

Though some may have been excited or curious about the birth I guarantee you there is one group that is downright overjoyed! Prisoners, yes prisoners.

Upon the birth of the little princesses the King pardoned 8,836 prisoners and reduced the sentence of 24,218 others. By my math that is 33,054 prisoners who are more than just a little bit fired up about the king’s good fortune. I am not sure if this is tradition or what but I assure you when the king has children people in prisons pay attention.

That I can tell there is no law that states this must be done. As a matter of fact the press release said the pardons were based on humanitarian concerns and a hope of integrating many prisoners back into society. Whatever to all of that I just know that if I was a prisoner I would be sending the king a great big thank you for doing what he did not have to do!

A king has a child and thousands are pardoned. Does that sound familiar? Though the king has a great practice it certainly is not a new concept. 2000 years ago the King of the Universe sent his son to die on the cross for our sins.

Let’s compare the kings:

• Did the prisoners deserve to be pardoned? They had committed a crime and were paying the price for it. The king simply looked the other way and told 8,836 you are free. Do we deserve to be pardoned? No more than those prisoners deserved it, we commit sin and sin separates us from God. As we accept Christ sacrifice for our sins, God the Father simply looks the other way and sets us free.
• Did they have any power to pardon themselves? No they were powerless to release themselves. The only way out was to serve the sentence or for the King to grant a pardon. When it comes to sin we have the same choice, either we serve the sentence for our sins and that sentence by the way is spiritual death or we can accept the king’s unconditional pardon. Seems like an easy choice to me.
• Do those prisoners love that princess and the king a lot more than they did a week ago? I think indeed that princess is on the top of their favorite’s list right up there with the king. That is one royal birth they will never forget. Why would we not be the same, our king sends his royal son to die for us, to pardon us, to set us free. Goodness every day should be Christmas for us.
• One side note here is that if those prisoners commit another crime it will be right back in jail for them. On the other hand as we commit sins against God, if we repent of those sins Christ stands in the gap for us, always granting us a pardon. This should not lead us to sin in disrespect of God; no this should lead us to live lives that would never be shackled by the pain and heartache of sin again. We should do this if not for any other reason than out of a love for the king who pardoned us.

I am thinking as those prisoners walk by the palace they will never forget his gracious gift at the birth of his second child. I assure you as we step into the palace of heaven and experience the unspeakable joy of being pardoned of our sins we will never forget the precious gift of His son Jesus Christ.

Scripture: Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Prayer: “Dear Lord, we are thankful that you pardoned us for our sins by sending your son to die for us. You are a great and loving King, we ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”