  "PRE-DAWN RAID” . . . That’s a pretty
ominous sounding term,
isn’t it? A "pre-dawn
raid” sounds like something
we’d hear in a
report about a Black Ops
mission to nab a terrorist
leader. Hearing the term
used to describe an action
conducted against a personal
attorney for the
President of the United
States is shocking.
Whether you’re a Trump
supporter or not and
whether you see Robert
Mueller as hero or villain,
the action is troubling in
many ways, and the full
impact of the intrusive
power of government
agencies with unlimited
prosecutorial power
remains to be seen.
But debating that
issue is not my intention
here. Instead, there’s a
personal perspective
worth consideration.
After all, prominent
national figures aren’t the
only ones subject to suddenly
being thrown into
life-altering circumstances
at a point when it’s too
late to do anything about
it, and the "Suppose it
was me” point of view is
worth considering.
How would it feel
to experience what happened
to Michael Cohen?
Suppose FBI agents suddenly,
and without warning,
swarmed into every
private, supposedly protected,
place we have?
What if every piece of personal
information, every
scrap of paper, every digital
file, every email, text,
and idle click in the electronic
history of our life
had been seized and was
being scrutinized by highly
trained prosecutors? If
they were searching for
any shred of evidence that
anything about us, our activities, contacts, or
interactions might be construed
as a violation of
some kind of legal statute,
how would we react? If,
like me, you’d be freaking
out. I have some news for
you — some that’s not so
good, but some that is
priceless.
The bad news is
that there’s a personal and
comprehensive raid coming
that is inescapable.
The jurisdiction of the
prosecuting authority is
universal, and the objective
is to sweep up everything
our life represents
— and it will include not
only actions but motivation
and intent. It will
even unveil all the things
we secretly longed for,
lusted over, and dreamed
about that we never got to
do. Every word ever spoken
will be captured,
every action ever taken,
every document ever generated,
every activity ever
experienced, every feeling
ever felt, and every image
ever viewed.
This "raid” we
face will be much more
intimidating than anything
the FBI could
accomplish, but unlike
the President’s attorney,
we have been given
advance warning. God
has chosen a time when
He will invade our lives
and gather up every scrap
of evidence indicating
who we are, what we’ve
done or failed to do, every
experience we ever had,
and even our idle
thoughts. He didn’t
release the date and time
or the procedural details,
but His arrival at our door
is inevitable and
inescapable. Jesus said it
this way:
Therefore you
also be ready, for the Son
of Man is coming at an
hour you do not expect.
Matthew 24:44 (NKJV)
Consider this
intriguing scenario...
Suppose Mr. Cohen had
been able to secure an
advance deal with the
authorities in the event
that a raid ever took place
like the one last week.
And suppose he was
guaranteed that if anything
even remotely suggested
any questionable
legal implications, it
would be completely and
eternally redacted and
rendered inadmissible in
any judicial proceeding.
What if this agreement
absolved him from any
form of penalty and negative
consequence from
any and all previous and
future infractions? What
do you think it might be
worth to him at this
point?
Jesus offered this
observation: "... If the
master of the house had
known what hour the
thief would come, he
would have watched and
not allowed his house to
be broken into” Matthew
24:43 (NKJV). That’s a
"no-brainer” isn’t it? A
planned break-in is bad
news, but advance warning
could change everything,
especially if there
was a way to disarm any
possibility of damage or
loss. That would transform
fear and dread into
celebration.
Jesus presents us
with two pieces of news
directly from the highest
judicial authority in the
universe--advance notice
that a kind of "pre-dawn
raid” has been approved
targeting us personally,
and the incredible offer of
a plea deal with the prosecution
before it happens.
If we express remorse and
plead guilty to every
charge, there is One who
offers Himself as a substitute
and who will absorb
the just consequences of
even the smallest infractions
and ensure that
they’ll be removed forever.
The recent response
to Syria’s recent
chemical weapons attack
adds yet another illustration
of a devastating "predawn
raid” and reminds
us that life-altering, or life-ending,
invasions can
happen any day. The
problem is that once
God’s "pre-dawn raid”
begins, His plea deal expires.
I’d advise taking
His offer "now.”
In addition to being
an active writer, speaker,
teacher, and blogger, Ron
Gallagher serves in a variety
of roles as a ministry consultant
for local churches.
His Biblical insights are
coupled with down-to-earth
humor, satire, and relevant
stories, all aimed at promoting
"right side up thinking
in an upside down world.”
Ron strives to apply God’s
truth in a way that stimulates
the mind, encourages
the heart, and challenges the
cultural norm. Check out his
blog, "Gallagher’s Pen” at
www.gallagherspen.com
NEW BOOK . . .
Ron’s new book, Right
Side Up Thinking in an
Upside Down World(sub-titled Looking at the
World through the Lens
of Biblical Truth), is now
available on Amazon and
through Lighthouse Bible
Studies. Learn more about
the book on his website
using this http://bit.ly/2IDsNpB . |
