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            On September 11, 1992, an unusual parking ticket was given on Piru Street in south-central Los Angeles.  At 9:46 a.m. an officer wrote up the ticket for an illegally parked Cadillac.  There was no question that the car was in violation.  The driver did not object to the ticket.  In fact, the driver didn’t say a word.  He couldn’t.  He was dead!

            The officer had taken the time to observe the parking violation, write a ticket, then stick his hand through the open window (within inches of the body stiffly sitting upright behind the steering wheel) and placed the $30 citation on the dashboard.  He never noticed the man was dead.

            Paramedics said the man had been dead ten to twelve hours when the ticket was given.

            That officer shares a common trait with many Christians. We walk through life citing others with petty violations while remaining oblivious to the fact that they are spiritually dead. We are offended or repulsed by the behavior of some non-Christians and rebuke them for not acting more Christ-like.  The fact is, they don’t have the power for real change.  They are “dead in trespasses and sins.”  They are “illegally parked” and can’t do a thing about it apart from Christ.

            These people don’t need a citation.  They need a Savior.  Let’s be sure to point them to Him.

The Provider, Fairfield church of Christ, Centerville, Tennessee, April 21, 2004