…and justice for all.

We all learn it.

If you are blessed enough to call the United States of America your homeland…you learned it.

Whether you learned it, like me, as a child in the school yard after repeating it every morning before you walked into your classroom for the day.

Or you learned it, like my friend’s mother, well into her adulthood during her Citizenship class.

You probably said it a million times: ”with liberty and justice for all.”

And although I’ve repeated it more times than I can remember, the last statement in the pledge of allegiance was heavy on my heart during my civil service.

The judge explained that justice is blind and the scales of justice start out even. It was our duty to see if, after all the evidence was presented, the scales leaned more to one side than the other. The jury is made up of 12 human beings who all bring their eyes, their experiences, and their biases to the jury holding room, and are then asked to lay them down and disregard them in order to seek justice.

To be honest, I can’t say I would choose to be on a jury. But once I was chosen, I took it seriously because:

God loves justice (The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love. Psalm 33:5)

God commands we seek it. (Learn to do right; seek justice. Isaiah 1:17)

God blesses those who maintain justice in a world that might not always seek it. If we want to maintain justice, we don’t get to pick and choose when we want to do right.  (Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantlydo what is right. Psalm 106:3)

God requires us to act. (He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercyand to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8)

As I finished my jury duty, I couldn’t help but feel convicted. When I walked out of the four walls of the court room, it was clear to me that I don’t live in a world where justice is blind and the scales are even. Yet, I’m commanded to stand in the gap between those who need justice and the One who loves it.

How am I loving and seeking justice in my day to day life? How am I playing my part to bring liberty and justice for all?