EIGHTEEN days of Lent: Lawyer Up

Something strange happened yesterday. I wrote a blog from the wrong reading plan! But you know what, it was ordained. I had prayed for the blog the other day:

"Lord, bless the blog to be the right content, for the right person to read at the right time."

Why do I pray this prayer?

• I'm always worried that my content is wrong. Heresy happens. On accident!
• My readership is pretty low right now. I used to be all about page views, but in these time of drought, I just need someone who needs encouragement, or a reminder of promises in scripture to click on my link at the time it would be most beneficial to them. 

That would make my blog a good blog. So yesterday's blog was an accident. But someone told me that blog was just what they needed at that time. So...prayer answered.
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Today at lunch, I was discussing one of my favorite TV shows with a friend: The Good Wife. And, while we were talking about the show, we talked about what it's like from the defense attorney's perspective to win a case on behalf of a guilty person. As an accountant, I can only imagine two scenarios:

1. Anguish/Frustration - You have a duty to give this person the best defense. But should I drop this client. Remove myself as counsel, because I'm so awesome I could win this?! Am I making a mockery of the justice system? I can't do that! 
2. Viewed as a Measure of Success - My job is not to uphold the justice system. My job is to win. And that's what I do. I'm paid to win, and I'm paid well. I look for holes and exploit them. I find reasonable doubt and transform it into a plausible narrative exonerating my client. I'm awesome. I'm AWESOME. 

I like to think I'd be an option #2 kind of chick. This person is cool and edgy. But I find that over the years, my edginess has dulled (I'm a butter knife!) and my coolness...was never really there. So maybe I'd be option #1. I'll never know, because I'll likely never practice law.

But on to today's loosely related reading:

 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

1 John 2:1-6 

I hit Strong's Concordance for the word "advocate" and it said "one who pleads another's cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant.."

There is, again, a lot happening in this verse, but it's never quite struck me that Jesus is a defense attorney...and all His clients are guilty.

Let that sink in. Jesus is a defense attorney, and all His clients are guilty. And it's His goal to get each and every one of them off!

The reading starts off with "don't do bad things...but if you DO bad things you have a pretty amazing defense attorney. He's got an in with the Judge!"

But it even goes beyond just having a really proficient attorney. Jesus goes one step forward, because the guilty verdict against us is not really set aside. It's conferred onto someone else. Jesus takes our sin and the death sentence that went with it. That's not even an option for attorneys these days, and even if it was...no one would go to these lengths to clear your name. No one. Just Jesus. Jesus "the righteous" takes the punishment of the unrighteous.

Mockery of justice? Yep.

Am I mad about it? Nope. Just grateful. In light of that we make every attempt to keep God's commandments. Why? Because we know Him. We know what happened in the courtroom. We understand that Jesus died a sinner's death...paid a sinner's price so that sinner's could walk free.

Where's the justice?!

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. - Galatians 5:1