.

The only reason I know this occurred was an interview I saw on the local news. They were talking to a man who was in his late thirties now but 11 years earlier he had been arrested for a DUI. He paid his dues to society at that time and now is a well respected member of society and an owner of his own company.

The only way he new about the mug shot being out on the internet was when he received a call from a friend telling him he was looking at his mug shot. Needless to say this caught him off guard. He thought that DUI and that mug shot were old news, packed away in his past never to be visited again.

After all he had done all the right things afterward. He took care of business, got his life together and put the event in his past. He moved on, that is until someone else for whatever reason brought it back up.

Obviously he could not deny it; it was there for the world to see. He could not run from it, he had no control of the internet sight. By the way they have now taken those pictures off of the internet, but the damage was done.

Here is what really hurt. Eleven years ago he made a mistake (sin) paid the price and took care of business and the people he loved most, his parents never found out. How good he must have felt to get his life right and never to have hurt those he loved the most. But one punch of an internet button changed all of that.

The key moment of the interview for me was when he looked in the camera and told his parents he was sorry. He had hoped to never have had to do that and though I am sure they forgave him, what parent wouldn’t, I know he wishes and thought he would never have had to do it.

For just a moment imagine in heaven there is a mug shot with your picture on it. Underneath it there on a long list are all the sins you have ever committed. Every bad word spoken, every lustful thought, every lie uttered, every bit of hatred toward someone else there on the paper, ever distasteful joke laughed at, ever prejudice etched under your picture. The list goes on and on there for all in heaven to see. Nothing hidden, I don’t know about you but for me that is a scary thought.

Now go back to the day you accepted Christ as your personal Savior. No more religion, no more hiding from God, you really saw your sin for what it was and you asked God for forgiveness; you fell on your knees and really made Him your Lord. What a great day that was.

Now on that day God walked over to the computer and He pulled up your name. There was you mug shot with that long list below it. He took a look at it, and remembered His own shed blood on the cross for each sin committed. He smiles as He recalls the moment you asked for forgiveness, he looks over at the right hand side of the computer and he sees the delete key.

Without pause he punches the key and there under your mug shot the list disappears. No more long list, no more guilty pleas, no more sin to answer for, it is all gone. As a matter of fact when he pulls up your name and your mug shot appears under it is just two words.

NOT GUILTY

The world may remember but He never will. Praise God for that.

Scripture: Psalms 103:8-13, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our inequities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

Prayer: Dear Lord, we come humbly this day and know you do not give us what our sins deserve but you give us grace and we simply say thank you. We ask this in Christ Name, Amen.