This may seem strange, but having to download a drive safe app has me reflecting on God’s judgement. Let me explain. We recently changed car insurance companies as my husband is going back to teaching behind the wheel to high schoolers. We needed a policy that would accommodate the increased risk.
My husband tells me about this drive safe app that will track our driving and we will get a discount. I told him I wasn’t doing downloading it. I didn’t want my movements tracked. I didn’t want to feel like I was under the judgement of some unknown entity. Worse yet, my husband can see the score on every trip taken. I wasn’t having it. I didn’t win.
This reminds me of the early years in my Christian journey. Initially, I struggled with identifying as a Christian. Many of the Christians around me had lots of rules that I didn’t think I could live up to. They showed me a God who judged harshly. They showed me a God who wanted to punish me. I didn’t want any of that.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:10-13 NIV).
Slowly, I realized they were bogged down by following rules and missing the God of mercy. Slowly, I got to know the God who lives with me in the midst of my current circumstances. I got to know the God who pursues me with love and mercy. He calls me out of sin toward Him. He journeys with me through pain and trials. God judges me through the eyes of love understanding my brokenness. He is not my punisher. He is my redeemer.
How have you experienced God’s judgement? Is He your punisher or your redeemer? Share your experience here and breathe life and bring hope to others.