A man from Charlotte, North Carolina, having purchased a case of rare, very expensive cigars, did something very unusual. He insured them against fire!
Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of fabulous cigars, and having yet to make a single premium payment on the policy, the man filed a claim against the insurance company. In his claim, the man stated that he had lost the cigars in “a series of small fires.”
The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason that the man had consumed the cigars in a normal fashion. The man sued – and won!
In delivering his ruling, the judge stated that since the man held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable, and also guaranteed that it would insure the cigars against fire, without defining what it considered to be “unacceptable fire,” it was obligated to compensate the insured for his loss.
Rather than endure a lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the judge’s ruling and paid the man $15,000.00 for the rare cigars he lost in “the fires.” After the man cashed his check, however, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of arson! With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used as evidence against him, the man was convicted of intentionally burning the rare cigars and sentenced to 24 consecutive one-year terms.
Forgive me, but I can’t help but chuckle at this true story. The man believed he had beaten the system and the insurance company, but in the end they had the last laugh.
There is no beating God’s justice. Sin has a wage and every sinner will pay that wage – or will they?
God doesn’t play games with justice. He will not be fooled. But He does extend grace to any sinner who confesses his sins and calls upon the blood of Jesus as payment for his wrongdoing.
In essence, we still don’t “beat the system.” The system is satisfied by the substitutionary death of Christ on the Cross. The “system” works. Jesus simply takes the penalty for our sins on Himself.
With Faith,
Roy Ice
