Faithfully yours - Payday someday

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Published on Sunday, March 12, 2017

By Neil Strohschein

The Neepawa Banner

The title of this week’s column comes from a sermon preached by the late Dr. Robert G. Lee sometime before his death in 1978. The point of his 55-minute sermon (which incidentally, he preached over 1,200 times in dozens of countries around the world) was that every wicked act people commit is recorded in God’s books; and while the guilty may evade justice on earth, they will not evade it when they stand before an all-knowing God. Then, their evil deeds will be exposed and justice will be served. In other words, there will be payday someday.

I have drawn great comfort from these words over the past few weeks.

Like many Manitobans, I was concerned when I heard that a convicted sex offender had been released after having served his sentence. He did the crime; he did the time (every day of it) and he walked out of jail a free man—which is what the law says must happen in his case.

He opted not to apply for parole—which is his right under the law. He chose to serve his complete sentence—which is also his right. Now he must be given the chance to live out his days in peace—which, if he doesn’t commit another criminal act, he should be able to do.

While I have great respect for the laws of the land and the criminal justice system that enforces them, I also understand the frustration of those who feel the system has failed them—that justice has somehow been denied. To them I say, be assured that God knows all the details of every horrid crime that has been committed—and there will be payday someday.

Then there are those whose obvious criminal acts go unpunished (for reasons we may never know or understand), those who evade justice on a legal technicality or those whose actions, though vile and despicable, fall short of the requirements for prosecution under the law.

What about the victims of these actions? Must they suffer in silence? Will their cries of pain and calls for justice fall on deaf ears? Absolutely not! The God who hears the cries of all who seek justice for wrongs committed against them will take their cries to heart. Justice will be served—if not in this life, then when the offenders are judged by God. There will be payday someday.

Knowing this, I am content to leave the futures of others in the hands of God and focus on how I live my life, knowing that for me, just as for everyone else, there will be payday someday.

You see, God takes note of every evil thought, every evil word and every evil deed that we think, speak or do. Nothing escapes his eye, his ear or his intuition. We may have forgotten about them, but God hasn’t. One day, he will reveal everything he knows and those who have violated his principles for living will receive the punishment they deserve. There will be payday someday.

That same God takes note of every prayer offered for the benefit of another, of every word of encouragement we speak and of every act of kindness we do. Our good deeds may go unnoticed by the rest of society. We may not even be aware of the good we have done. But God knows all about them and one day, he will reveal everything he knows and those who have done good in this life will be rewarded for what they have done. In other words, there will be payday someday.