I have followed the doping case against cyclist Floyd Landis for the past year. He grew up a Mennonite in Pennsylvania and went on to win the Tour de France last year with an amazing come from behind effort in the final days. Unfortunately it was reported that he failed a drug test and his title was withheld. There is a great deal of controversy as to whether the drug test was fraudulent and much doubt as to whether he actually used any drugs. After a year of review, the findings were upheld. Two judges said guilty and one said innocent. As a result he has permanently lost his title to the 2006 Tour de France and is banned from the race for two years. I have been pulling for him and hoping that he'd be found innocent. I really don't know if he's innocent or guilty. But two things I'm certain of: (1) the men who have judged him could be wrong about their finding and (2) his guilt or innocence doesn't depend on the findings, but on his actions. A man named Darryl Hunt spent 19 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. As he addressed first year law students at Duke University, he said, “For 19 years I sat in prison for a crime I didn’t commit because people wanted to win, not because they wanted justice and for the truth to come out.” Sometimes it is the ones who enforce law who commit the crime.
We are not guilty because we're caught just as we are not innocent if we are not caught and we're not guilty because a judge says we are. We are guilty or we are innocent before the Lord. No one really gets away with anything because the God who is Judge sees all. I think it's good to be reminded that we walk transparently before the living God. It is He who is pleased and it is He who is displeased by our attitudes and actions. Until we reach the point where we live for the Lord, we aren't really serious about living rightly.
Job 11:11 For He knows deceitful men;
He sees wickedness also.
Will He not then consider it?
He sees wickedness also.
Will He not then consider it?
blessings,
Rob Smith
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