The Books Were Opened

I'm a judge, and the image of God opening books in which everything is recorded - every deed - haunts me.

I sentence people to prison. I hold their fates in my hands in some very real way. But John's vision says I don't ultimately hold them. God does. God remembers every deed. Every injustice. Every mercy.

I don't use that to avoid responsibility. I use it as a check on my pride. I'm not the ultimate judge. I'm a temporary representative of something bigger. And I'll answer for how I've wielded that power.

It makes me slower to condemn, quicker to show mercy, more careful with the authority I've been given.