Update on Our Stolen Property

When our GPS, iPhone charger, and Car Roadside Kit were stolen by a thief who broke out the driver side window of our minivan, we thought we'd never hear anything more about it. You know how it goes... you report this type of crime to the police and there is NEVER enough evidence to lead to any sort of arrest. Catching these kinds of criminals is next to impossible. In our case, we even had some video of the vehicle while it was being broken into courtesy of the company next door. But it was too dark to make any conclusive identifications. (sigh)

The robbery happened Sunday night, and I reported the crime to the police on Monday at lunch. On Wednesday afternoon... the phone rang. It was Sergeant McKenna with the NYPD Intelligence Division. He informed me that he had my GPS in his possession and wanted to bring it to me to positively I.D. it. He knew it was mine, but he had to have my testimony to give the official word.

 

See? We have it back in our possession as of yesterday afternoon. Sgt. McKenna told me, "It's rare for us to recover items from this kind of break-in." After filling out some paper work, thanking them for their hard work, and shaking their hands, I left for home with my GPS in hand. We didn't have our iPhone charger or Car Roadside Kit, but we had the GPS. Oh yeah... I forgot to mention that they stole our stack of quarters we had in there for the parking meters. (huff--sigh--moan)

Tonight, it crossed my mind to send Sgt. McKenna an email to thank him again and let him know that I really do appreciate his work. So I looked on his business card and typed up a thank you. I hit "send" and off into cyberspace it went...

About 5 minutes later my phone rang. It turns out that Sgt. McKenna was still at the office at 10:30 pm filling out paper work for all his reports. He thanked me for my email and told me that he was about to call me tonight but thought it was too late. Then he got my email and thought he'd give it a shot. As it turns out, they DID indeed find our Car Roadside Kit. He told me I could come and pick it up tomorrow. YEA!

They have made an arrest and I will be testifying that "this suspect" did not have permission to have possession of my personal belongings. This guy is responsible for more than a dozen car break-ins and has some consequences headed his way. And he deserves it too. He's taken things that were not his. He's damaged other people's property. He's guilty... guilty... guilty.

But the more I think about this guy, the more I wonder how he got to this place in life. I know that God uses the law of reaping and sowing. For example, if you make horrible choices in life, then most likely you will have some horrible outcomes. But I also know that life gets really tough sometimes and it seems like there are no good choices. What is this guy's story?

Is he a scumbag who has been given chance after chance after chance and still chooses to take advantage of people? Or is he just a man who fell on hard times and was doing all he knew to do?When it's all said and done, does it really matter which category he fits in? He is guilty... right?

Right. He is guilty. But as a man who embraces the gospel of Jesus Christ, I am QUICKLY reminded of my guilty plea that I gave before God many years ago. I had sinned and fallen short of God's glory and knelt before a holy God in need of redemption. And today... I am guilt-free. I'm clothed in the righteousness of Christ. He has erased my sin by his grace and mercy. I'm no longer a slave to sin, but a child of God. Nothing that I did caused me to gain this standing before God. It was ALL Jesus. So there is no room in my flesh to boast in what I have done.

Do you believe this criminal can have the same story? Can he be guilt-free and clothed in the righteousness of Christ? Absolutely, he can. I know this because our righteousness is not based on our ability to keep the Law, but it is based on the Messiah's perfection in fulfilling it. I am CONFIDENT that this criminal can be a free man, not because I have confidence in his, or my own, ability to change, but because of the mercy and grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

I'm pleased to have some of my possessions back, but I hope that these possessions are being used to bring glory to Jesus. And seeing people embrace Christ as their Savior brings much glory to him. Thank you, Jesus, for saving an undeserving sinner like me and pouring out your grace and calling me your own. I pray for this man who is guilty of breaking the law, and I ask that you would soften his heart and draw him to repentance. There, I know you will meet him with open arms and embrace him as your own.