NO BIBLE NO BREAKFAST DAILY BIBLE REFLECTIONS AND MORE

REFLECTION
The theme for our reflection is “Judicial Law- Guidance for the grey areas.”  Judicial law is the principles or body of rules that must guide the administration of justice by the court to ensure justice and fairness. Grey areas refer to the aspects of human activities and social life that are not yet governed by law. The theme can be rephrased as laws made to govern aspect of society not yet covered by the existing law. We shall reflect on the fact that judicial laws ensure equity or fairness in every society and human endeavour hence every grey area of human endeavour must conform to the law.

Beloved in the Lord, after God had liberated Israel from Egypt and made them into an independent nation, it was important for Him to give them laws to guide them in the administration of justice and the protection of the dignity of every person including slaves. Exodus 21:1-11 provides laws on how Jewish slaves or servants must be treated by their masters or owners. The most important point to note is that although slaves or servants were considered properties of their masters, they also had the right to live a dignified life and be protected by the law. Their servitude had an expiration period of six years. In servitude, they could marry and have children and must be treated fairly by their owners. In our dispensation, every sovereign and democratic country has both domestic and internal laws that protect the rights and dignity of every citizen. The importance of the Parliament or the legislature is to review existing laws and also make new laws to guide society in grey areas of its activities. Believers have an important mandate to always push for justice and the implementation of laws that respect the dignity of all people, especially the poor and vulnerable in society. The Laws given to the Israelites were to ensure justice and fair treatment of everyone in the society. The laws did not favour the affluent and masters over their slaves and those who were less privileged in Jewish society.

Again, Exodus 21: 12-36 are laws that provide remedies for death and personal injuries caused by the direct consequences of a person’s willful act and negligence. Remedies are provided for all persons including abused parents, pregnant women, slaves, persons injured by a wild bull and owners of animals that are injured.  A good and just law, especially in the realm of criminal law, provides the offence of the offender and the remedy to be granted to the victim. The state or the nation is interested in the welfare of every person and their property. The administration of justice under the criminal code or law is not left to the discretion of the judge. The judge’s responsibility is to look at the act that constituted the offence per the law, ascertain whether or not the offender had a malicious intent to commit the said offence per the law and then hand over the appropriate punishment according to the law. The victim is also compensated according to the law and not the discretion of the judge. When the law is made and applied in such a strict manner it ensures predictability of justice and gives citizens the confidence to always look up to the judicial system or justice delivery system for the administration of justice. People will hardly take the law into their own hands if they have confidence in the judicial system. It is for this reason that those who are put in charge of justice delivery must eschew all forms of bribery and corruption and ensure that justice is delivered without fear, favour and delay.  Above all, the purpose of the law in every society is to ensure that there is peace and respect for the dignity and rights of every human being. Christians must therefore be law abiding and ensure that the law is equally respected by other people so that we shall all have a just and peaceful society. A society can not develop or thrive in a lawless and chaotic regime. The creation and implementation of laws enable every society to grow and develop in a just, peaceful and secure regime. We have been greatly admonished in Exodus 23:8 “Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.”

In summary, we have reflected on the theme Judicial laws “Judicial law-Guidance for the grey areas” We have discovered that judicial laws ensure equity or fairness in every society and human endeavour hence every grey area of human endeavour or activity must conform to the law. We must therefore allow the law to work without fear and favour so that we can have a just and peaceful society.

PRAYER
Thank You, God, for establishing the foundation of our judicial system and laws. Strengthen us to be law-abiding even as we continue to make laws that will protect the rights and dignity of everyone in our societies. Amen.