When I was eighteen I was driving my father’s Volkswagen Beetle down a highway with a speed limit of 55. To that point in my brief driving career, I had never been stopped for a traffic violation. Besides, the Volkswagen had a small engine and could barely go the speed limit. But that day I wondered how fast it could go if you maxed out the rpms going down a really steep hill. Well, it went 68 mph. At least that’s what the police officer said the radar registered. I was issued a ticket with a mandatory court appearance.

My court date was a hot, humid summer evening and the courthouse was not air conditioned. The judge arrived more than an hour late and he was not in a good mood.

I sat through a couple of hours of cases that preceded mine. The rest of the defendants looked to me like hardened criminals and I didn’t feel like I belonged there. When my turn came, the judge revoked my license for thirty days and I had to surrender it to him that night.

Then and there, I decided that I did not want to ever appear before a judge like that again. And that was just traffic court!

But, you know, we all will stand before a much higher judge someday – the judge of the universe! About that great judgment day, the Bible says, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” We can’t avoid the day of judgment, but we can control the outcome.