June 15

Proverbs 15
Clint and I were seniors. We took World Geography (a sophomore level class) because we wanted an easy schedule our last year. Clint liked to talk. We were constantly being corrected by the teacher because of talking. One day I was in an annoying mood, so I kept quietly pestering him. He finally got tired of it and turned around to slug me. I held up my clip board. When he hit it, it went flying. The teacher had looked up at just the right moment to see him do the dastardly deed. She immediately gave him detention, and I got off scot-free. (Where does that term come from?) Anyway, I felt guilty. . . for about two minutes. We laughed about it later. I haven’t talked with Clint since 1973. I wonder if he ever held it against me. I’ll have to look in the phone book and see if he is still around. It really wasn’t completely just for him to be punished for something that I provoked him into. But then, he was a free moral agent; he could have handled it in another manner, and as he said, “I get detention all the time.” . . .
Most of the time in the human world, there is no one there to view what really happens, so justice is rarely served. Not so with the Lord. Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good. Later on in verse 11 it says, “Hell and Destruction are before the LORD; So how much more the hearts of the sons of men.” Our teacher would probably not have seen me pestering Clint, even if she had been watching. The angle of how we were sitting from her location was wrong for her to see from where she was standing. However, if she could have seen our hearts, perhaps I would have been the one in detention, and Clint may have walked away with just a reprimand.
Yes, justice is rarely served in this world, but He keeps watch on the evil and the good, and our hearts are before Him. We cannot hide our evil or our good from Him. One day we will stand before the Lord; He will reveal the thoughts and intentions of our heart as it related to every deed. He will judge with just judgment in our every intention and deed. Now there is a scary thought, but there is one comfort in the midst of that. He removes all our sins and lawless deeds if we repent and believe in Him. When it comes to that point in our trial, there will be missing minutes in the tape because they are under the blood of the Lamb. Justice will have already been served on the cross. Wow! Such mercy! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
P.S. Here is what Ask Yahoo says about the term “scot-free”.
First off, let's set the record straight on the expression itself -- it's actually "scot-free." And contrary to popular belief, it has nothing to do with Dred Scott or the Scottish.
Sceot is the Old English for "a tax." Scot and lot was a medieval muncipal tax levied on residents. Someone who managed to avoid paying this medieval tax got off "scot free."
Eventually, the word evolved to describe getting away without any kind of punishment, fiscal or otherwise. Kids who fake fevers get out of school scot-free. Cagey adults escape jury duty scot-free. And dogs with remorseful eyes get off scot-free from just about any wrongdoing.