I recently traveled to Florida for a family visit. No better time to drive closer to the equator than during the hottest season of the year. I certainly felt the sun baking my skin as I sat along the beach over the course of that week.
On the ten hour drive home, however, we made a pit stop at the infamous place known for fueling Americans: Dunkin’ Donuts.
I exited this fine establishment double-fisting an iced Vanilla coffee and a bacon, egg and cheese croissant as well as a satisfied grin on my face. That’s the recipe for any good road trip.
As I headed toward my parent’s vehicle, parked the furthest away from the front door, I noticed what I assumed to be another one of those cheesy Christian license plate adorning the cars of South Carolina. What I read stopped me on the sidewalk so I could do a doubletake.
“Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.”
Forgiven. To hold no account or record of wrongs committed. To grant pardon and cancel any debt. To release from obligation.
It’s a simple truth, but that license plate saying ran in my mind long after I finished my Dunkin’ Donuts meal. I thought about the potential life I could continue living with forgiveness as my eternal foundation.
This got me daydreaming. I envisioned people seeking to hurt me only to experience love because I’m unoffendable and grounded in my identity in Him. I imagined blessing and declaring truth over others because fear no longer restrained me from sharing God’s affection for them. I thought about forgiving others to watch them melt under the power of Holy Spirit and desire to know my God.
“Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.”
A license plate conveyed truth I have only recently learned to experience daily. We can demonstrate and share this experience through our lives lived on full display. Because we’re forgiven, we’re empowered to forgive.
And that’s the type of lesson I learned from a license plate.
What has God taught you in the most unexpected places or things?
