As I was driving down Cambie the other day, something about the oncoming SUV caught my eye. There, flapping wildly under the passenger-side windshield wiper, was a long, rectangular parking ticket. It boldly danced in the wind, this little flag of guilt. And yet, the driver seemed completely unaware. Whether they hadn’t noticed or simply didn’t care, they were driving off as though nothing was wrong.
It reminded me of another moment I once witnessed: a man returning to his car, spotting the bright yellow notice tucked beneath his wiper. He pulled it off in frustration and tossed it to the ground. As if discarding it there, refusing to acknowledge it, might somehow cancel the consequence. But, of course, today’s parking officers aren’t relying on flimsy paper alone. The violation is logged. Photographed. Documented. The evidence is there, whether the driver accepts it or not.
And isn’t that just like sin? We go about our days, either unaware or willfully ignoring the violations of a harsh word, a selfish thought, a compromise we’ve convinced ourselves doesn’t matter. Sometimes we don’t notice the damage we’ve done. Other times, we feel the sting of conviction but and toss it aside, pretending if we don’t carry the guilt, it won’t follow us. In denial about the “slip under our wiper.”
But sin, like that parking ticket, is already on the record. God sees. He knows. And no matter how far or fast we drive away, the penalty remains unless dealt with properly. The good news? We don’t have to pay it ourselves. Jesus has already taken the violation upon Himself. The cross is more than a pardon—it’s the full and final payment. But we have to bring the notice to Him. Acknowledge it. Confess it. Let Him deal with what we cannot erase on our own. 1 John 1:8-9 says “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
So the next time you see a parking ticket flapping in the breeze, let it be a gentle reminder: sin ignored is not sin erased. But grace is available—and the penalty has been paid in full.