Especially when you’re sure to lose.
There’s a verse in Matthew 5 that gets explained sometimes like a tip on avoiding lawsuits.
Settle with your adversary quickly, while you’re on the way to court with him.
People read that and hear don’t let a disagreement get expensive, which is true enough as far as it goes, but that’s not who Jesus is talking to.
Read it again.
The guy on the way to court isn’t disputing anything. The adversary already has him. There’s no version of this where the judge hears both sides and it could go either way. He’s guilty, and everybody in the story knows it, including him.
So the instruction isn’t negotiate your way out of something you might lose. It’s deal with it now, while you’re still on the way.
Once the judge has it, the judge hands you to the officer. The officer puts you somewhere you don’t leave until it’s paid in full. No more conversation at that point.
That’s not really a story about court. It’s about all of us.
We are all sinners and we have all fallen short. We know we’re walking toward the end of our lives, and one day we’ll have to give an account.
None of us gets there with a case for our own innocence. The good news is we don’t have to.
Christ already paid the debt we couldn’t pay. We don’t have to argue our case, explain ourselves, or convince the Judge we’re really pretty good people.
We have to admit that we’re not and put our trust in the One who is.
The timing is the part we shouldn’t miss. While you’re still on the way.
As long as you’re still on the way, it’s not too late.
Until the day it is, and nobody gets a calendar invite telling them which day that’ll be.
While you’re still on the way…
P.S.
If you’d like to read through the Bible this year, you can join us at His Word Together.
No commentary. No telling you what to think. Nothing to buy. Nothing fancy.
Just steady time in the Word.
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