Welcome to the Set Your Mind Above podcast, where every day, ordinary events teach us extraordinary eternal truths! I am your host BJ Sipe, and I’m so glad you’ve tuned in today! I am excited to share my life & my faith with you, and I sure hope you’ll do the same with me along the way.

I am happy to report that we arrived safely here in Deep Gap, North Carolina at my in-laws house around 2:30 this afternoon. We didn’t get out of the house as early as we had hoped this morning. Ava started struggling with a cold last night and hardly slept, so instead of leaving around 5 am we ended up getting out of the house at 7:30 am. We got the car and the kids loaded up after some more rest and got on the road for our 6 hour drive. Where we live in Kentucky I have described as the middle of nowhere and also the middle of everywhere. We about an hour away from the nearest interstate in any direction if that gives you an idea, but we are also only a few hours away from 3 or 4 major cities & destinations. Hence, the middle of nowhere and the middle of everywhere. We had been on the road a little over an hour and just got on the interstate when the most unusual thing happened that I want to share with you today. We were driving in the middle lane doing about 70, the posted speed limit, when suddenly I saw two cars flying up in my rear-view mirror. The closest one was a white Jeep Wrangler coming up in the slow lane, but he was not going slow at all. In fact, he was probably doing close to 100 miles per hour with how fast he was closing in on us. The second car, not far behind him, was a Dodge SUV of some kind that was quickly matching his speed in the fast lane to our left. They both zoomed past us close to the same time, and my first thought was, “Are these guys racing?” I looked over at Kylie and said, “I sure hope they get pulled over, even though there aren’t many cars on the road that’s dangerous.” No sooner did I say this when the Dodge SUV changed lanes to get behind the Jeep and out of nowhere blue lights started flashing. It was an unmarked police vehicle that apparently had been trying to catch up with this Jeep that was driving far too fast. I have to be honest, my first gut reaction when I saw the lights flashing was, “Yes! Got him! Justice is served! What are the odds?” The Jeep immediately started to slow down, obviously seeing the flashing lights behind him and looking for an opportunity to pull off the interstate at the nearest exit. And that’s when the most peculiar thing happened…once the Jeep had slowed down, the unmarked police vehicle pursuing him turned off his lights, changed lanes, and continued down the road past the Jeep. He didn’t pull him over! After such a clear violation of the law! I was actually kind of frustrated, because he deserved to be pulled over and given a ticket! I asked my wife, “Have you ever seen anything like that before? Talk about catching a break!” Without missing a beat, my wife turned to me and said, “Well, there’s your podcast for today. Because that right there, what we just saw, is the perfect example of grace.” Wow. She was absolutely right. Here I was upset that in my mind that justice wasn’t served, but in the mind of the driver that was speeding I am sure he was overwhelmingly grateful for the measure of grace he was just shown. 
 
 We all want justice…sometimes. What I mean is that we all want justice when it involves somebody else. When someone has wronged us, or someone that we love, we are quick to demand that wrongs be made right! They must pay for what they have done, after all, that is what is just and God is a God of justice! While that is certainly true, that we serve a just God, we must not forget that we serve a God that is also full of grace and lovingkindness. We all want justice…except when it comes to ourselves, then we suddenly want grace. I want us to consider two spiritual truths from the book of Romans regarding ourselves and our sin, about what we deserve verses what we have received. Beginning with Romans 3:23, we read, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Earlier in this context, Paul would cite Psalm 14 & 53 when he wrote, “There are none who are righteous, no not one. They have all turned aside.” Every single one of us stand guilty before Jesus because of our sin. We have clearly, repeatedly, and at times deliberately violated the nature of God’s character through our unrighteous actions. Be it due to willful ignorance or outright rebellion, we are without excuse and stand guilty as charged with our sin. Knowing this, now read Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” You stand guilty of sin, in clear violation of the righteousness of God. The charge for such an offense, what we deserve and the only just sentence for our unloving and evil actions…is death. So, let me ask you again…do you want justice? Or do you want grace? God, a just God, out of his great love allowed his wrath to be satisfied on sin because it was poured out on Jesus, who bore our sins upon the cross. As a result, instead of giving us what we deserve (death), he offers us what we do not deserve (life) – he shows us grace from his steadfast love. If we all got what we deserved, every single one of us would be lost. But because of the immense love & grace of our kind and merciful Father, we can be saved. If God has shown us this kind of grace in our lives, what kind of grace should we be willing then to show to others as well? If we truly understand the grace & love we have received from God, then we will be willing and ready to give it to those who wrong us or others too. I forgive like he has forgiven me. I am patient like he has been patient with me. I am gracious as he has been gracious with me. You will be wronged in your life, sometimes your heart will be ripped right out of your chest because of the actions of others. When that happens, what will you be quick to rush to and respond with: justice, or grace? God, help me to be more like your son, who even while hanging on a cross looked down at those who had put him to death and desired grace when he said, “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.” 

Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Tune in, Tuesday-Friday’s, as a new podcast episode will be uploaded each day. Also, be sure to follow the Facebook page for the Set Your Mind Above podcast for future announcements and weekly video sessions that are uploaded on Saturdays. As you have the opportunity, share these thoughts with your friends and family, and share with me what important lessons you are learning from every day, ordinary events. Until next time know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above!