226 Times!  

According to the Associated Press, some Lincoln, Nebraska police officers apprehended a man last Sunday morning after a brief chase and found burglar tools in his possession.  The criminal, Kevin Holder, is very well-known to Lincoln police officers.  You see, this was his 226^th arrest!

Holder's rap sheet is 43 pages long, dating back to 1980, including convictions of criminal mischief, marijuana possession, violation of a protection order, assault, resisting arrest, assault on an officer, possession of cocaine.  Many of his convictions were misdemeanors, but he also has been sentenced to at least three prison terms for felonies, including a four-year stretch starting in 1996.

Arrested 226 times.  Can you believe it?

Would you believe that this is not the record for Lincoln ?

Holder's list of arrests doesn't even come close to setting a record for Lincoln-Lancaster County .  The record is held by Edward Rooks, who died in 2004, with 652 arrests.  With 226 arrests, Holder is only No. 40, according to police spokeswoman Katherine Finnell.  A number of people have more than 500 arrests in Lincoln , and Lincoln is a city of only 226,000 people!*

Have you ever stopped to think about how many times YOU have made mistakes?  No, our misdeeds may not be crimes against the law of the land, but 
we frequently make blunders due to ignorance, negligence or disobedience.  We get involved in gossip.  We think about things that we shouldn’t.  We don’t treat others properly.  Our attitude is wrong.  And the list goes on and on.  Yes, we too are "repeat offenders".  Now then, 226 doesn’t sound like a lot anymore, does it?  
The Scriptures remind us: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

No, Holder must not be excused from his crimes; obviously he is a habitual offender and must “do the time.”  However, WE cannot excuse our sinfulness, either.  Because of our sins, we too will be judged (Romans 6:23).

But God loves us so much that He gave His Son so that we might be forgiven of our sins.  Jesus paid the price for us when He died on the cross.  He “bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).  Our “record” can be wiped clean if we will submit our lives to Him. 

But first, we MUST turn from our sins and purpose to do God’s will; this is what the Bible calls repentance (2 Corinthians 7:9-10).  Then believing that Jesus is the Son of God (Acts 16:30-31), we must confess Him before men (Romans 10:9-10) and be baptized (immersed) in His name for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  Then, by His grace, we are forgiven of our past sins!

Grace does not give us a "license" to sin.  “What shall we say then?  Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?  Certainly not!  How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Romans 6:1-2).  we must determine to follow Jesus and do our best to stay away from sin (1 John 1:7).

Our “rap sheet” undoubtedly includes more than 226 sins.  ALL of us need forgiveness AND it is available in Christ, if only we will trust and obey Him.

God bless you!

David A. Sargent, Minister

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

* “Man arrested for 226th time; Nebraska record safe.”  Associated Press.  http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/15/226th.arrest.ap/index.html

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