Failing the Test

This week I went for my truck licence so I can drive a fire truck for the Jamberoo Rural Fire Brigade.

Everything was going really well until I turned left at a set of traffic lights and cut the corner a tiny bit… but just enough for the rear tyre to briefly mount the curb.

‘Bump’… FAIL!

Even though I’d done a good job of the rest of the test, that one, small, ‘bump’ meant I failed the test.

No matter how I went in the other scores, I just needed one little mistake in the ‘fail’ list, and it’s a long, sad trip home.

In many ways, this is what it’s like with God’s judgement.

All we need is one ‘fail item’ in our life-long test, and then God, the instructor, will put a big cross in the box next to the sentence ‘SORRY! YOU DID NOT QUALIFY’.

And the problem is that any one time that we live like Jesus is not our king, then this single ‘sin’ is enough to rightly disqualify us from eternal life.

As we read in Romans chapter 3 verse 23: “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”

It all sounds pretty hopeless!

But here’s the wonderful news that the Bible says straight after in verse 24: “Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.”

“Grace… freely… freed…”

Even though all of us have failed the test of life, God now makes us right in his sight… passing the test for us, and giving us certainty for eternity if we turn and serve Jesus as our loving ruler.

But even though Jesus has given me a ‘pass’ to heaven, I’ve still got to do that driving test again in three weeks!

JODIE McNEILL