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After living
a "decent" life, my time
on earth came to an end.
The first thing I remember is sitting
on a bench in the waiting room
of what I thought to be a huge court house.
The doors opened and I was instructed
to come in and have a seat
by the defense table.
As I looked around I saw the "prosecutor",
he was a villainous looking gent
who snarled as he stared at me,
he definitely was
the most evil person I have ever seen.
I sat down and looked to my left
and there sat my lawyer,
a kind and gentle looking man
whose appearance seemed very familiar to me.
The corner
door flew open
and there appeared the judge
in full flowing robes.
He commanded an
awesome presence
as he moved across the room and
I couldn't take my eyes off of him.
As he took his seat
behind the bench he said,
"Let us begin."
The
prosecutor rose and said,
"My name is Satan
and I am here to show you why
this man belongs in Hell."
He proceeded to tell of
lies that I told,
things that I stolen and of the past
when I cheated others.
Satan told of other
horrible perversions that were once
in my life and the more he spoke,
the further down in my seat I sank.
I was so embarrassed that I
couldn't look at anyone,
not even my own lawyer,
as the Devil told of sins that
even I had completely forgotten about.
As upset as
I was at Satan
for telling all these things about me,
I was equally upset at my representative
who sat there silently,
not offering any form of defense at all.
I know I had been guilty of those things,
but I had done some good in my life -
couldn't that at least equal out
part of the harm I've done?
Satan
finished with a fury and said
"This man belongs in Hell,
he is guilty of all that I have
charged
and there is not a person who can prove otherwise."
When it was
his turn,
my lawyer first asked if
he might approach the bench.
The judge allowed this,
(over the strong objection of Satan),
and beckoned him to come forward.
As he got up and started walking,
I was able to see him now
in his full splendor and majesty.
Now I realized why he seemed so familiar,
this was Jesus representing me,
my Lord and my Savior.
He stopped at the bench
and softly said to the judge
"Hi Dad"
and then he turned to address the court.
"Satan
was correct
in saying that this man had sinned,
I won't deny any of these allegations.
And yes, the wage of sins is death,
this man deserves to be punished."
Jesus took a deep breath
and turned to his Father
with outstretched arms and proclaimed,
"However, I died on
the cross
so that this man might have eternal life
and he has accepted me as his Savior,
so he is mine."
My
Lord continued with
"His name is written in the Book of Life
and no one can snatch him from me.
Satan still does not understand yet,
this man is not to be given justice,
but rather mercy."
As Jesus sat
down, he quietly paused,
looked at his Father and replied,
"There is nothing else
that needs to be done,
I've done it all."
The
Judge lifted his mighty hand
and slammed the gavel down
and the following words
bellowed from his lips,
"This man is free -
the penalty for him
has already been paid in full,
case dismissed."
As my
Lord led me away
I could hear Satan ranting and raving,
"I won't give up,
I'll win next time!"
I asked Jesus as he gave me my instructions
on where to go next, "Have you ever lost a case?"
Christ lovingly smiled and said,
"Everyone that has come
to me and asked me
to represent them has received
the same verdict as you...
Paid in Full."
In this
world of trials and tribulation,
there are times when logic, thought, and discussion,
seem
to do nothing at all.
It is in these times that I have learned
that I have only one place to turn
in which to ease the pain.
For I have an advocate with the Father.
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