25th day of Lent

I should know why if I don’t wear green on St. Patrick’s Day, I will be pinched, but I don’t know. I’m sure there is some crazy reason. All I know is I always make a concerted effort to wear green so I won’t get pinched. If I forget, Sharon is usually the first person to pinch me. She is so attune to such things, except on April Fool’s Day. She often forgets and becomes an easy target for a wonderful family prank that I may tell you about later - it is hilarious when some of us in the family get her "fooled" on April 1.

Anyway, back to today. It is a day to wear green. If you drink beer, you may even drink green beer. In Chicago, there is a river that they turn green. And in Savannah, there is a parade because of the Irish population there, I guess. I really don’t know a lot about this day, except to say, I know I’d better wear green or I’m getting pinched. So green I will wear! Because I prefer to avoid pain.

It reminds me of consequences in life. You do certain things, and there are consequences. For example, around Christmas time, I tried to slip through a yellow/red traffic light. About a month later, I get this letter in the mail with a photo of the rear of my vehicle (three photos actually) showing me that I had run through a red light, and thus owed Gwinnett County $70. You do certain things - there are consequences. I didn’t do it intentionally, but nonetheless I owed them $70. I paid the ticket.

I think this was part of why Jesus came as God in the flesh to the earth. Not to get me out of traffic tickets, but to help all of us understand that "if we do certain things, there will be consequences." Jesus came to show us a way that is full only of good consequences. That if we would follow that way, we would be fulfilled and complete. And even if we erred along the way, we have Him who has paid the price for our errors. Maybe that is what he meant when he said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

Jesus doesn’t remove my consequences of everyday stupidity like running through red traffic lights. But he did remove my eternal consequences of condemnation if I would follow him. John 3:16 is familiar to most people, but John 3:17 is just as powerful. "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." Praise God.

Don’t forget to wear green today!