One morning Joe got an important phone call. He was on his phone a long time, and when he had finished talking on the phone, he called Haley into the room. Joe looked very serious, and he told Haley that the young man who had shot Frank’s mother had been caught and that there was going to be a trial. Joe was going to have go to the trial and testify because he had been the one who had found Frank’s mother dead. Haley was also going to have to testify at the trial because she was the one who was raising Frank.
Haley was scared! She asked Joe if she was in trouble and if she might go to jail! Joe just laughed and assured Haley that she was not in trouble. Haley had done nothing wrong. The reason Haley needed to testify was so the people at the trial could hear the story about how the fawn had been helpless without the mother deer and would have died if Haley had not taken such good care of it. Haley’s story about raising Frank would show the people at the trial how serious it is when a person kills a deer when it is not hunting season. Now Haley understood why she had to testify at the trial, but she was still nervous!
The day of the trial arrived, and Haley did not want to even get out of bed, but she knew that she had to get up and go to the trial. She hoped that her story about raising Frank would get people’s attention and maybe people would stop killing deer when it was not hunting season. Haley wanted to look good in court, so she put on her blue dress. Joe had told her many times that she looked beautiful in that dress.
When they got to the courthouse Haley felt even more nervous because the building was so big and awesome. The people going into the courthouse looked important and impressive, and Haley felt out of place. She felt like holding Joe’s hand, but he needed both his hands to use his crutches, so Haley walked behind Joe. Haley was so busy looking at all the people that she was not looking where she was going. There was some water on the sidewalk and Haley slipped on the water! With a scream she started to fall! Fortunately, she fell sideways, so she did not land on the cement and hurt herself! Unfortunately, there was a puddle beside the sidewalk, and Haley landed in the puddle! Haley got to her feet, and her nice blue dress was covered with mud and dripping water! All the people, except Joe, started to laugh at her. Haley was so embarrassed! Haley went into the bathroom and tried to wash the mud off her dress, but her dress still looked very dirty and soggy!
When the trial started, Haley was surprised to see that the person who was accused of shooting Frank’s mother was just a teenage boy, not much older than Haley. He looked scared, and Haley almost felt sorry for him. A man stood before the court and argued that the teenage boy should be found not guilty because his friends had a bad influence on him, and he did not know that he was doing anything wrong. Haley whispered to Joe and asked who that man was, and why was he trying to prove that the teenage boy was not guilty. Joe whispered back and told Haley that the man was a lawyer, and that the court had appointed him to represent the teenage boy and be his advocate.
The trial continued, and soon Joe was called to the front to testify. Haley watched closely so that she would know what to do when it was her turn. Joe had to go to a chair beside the judge’s desk and swear on a Bible that he would tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Joe told the facts very clearly and did not leave out any details. It looked easy!
Next, they called Haley to come to the front to testify. Haley got out of her seat and walked to the front, dripping water the whole way! She heard people in the courtroom laughing, but she ignored them. When she got to the front, Haley sat down in the chair…but she missed the chair! Haley landed on the floor with a loud splat! Muddy water flew out of her dress, and the chair fell over with a crash! The courtroom erupted in laughter! Haley tried to stand up and nearly tripped the man who was holding the Bible! He fell, and the Bible flew out of his hands! Haley tried to grab the Bible, but she tripped over the man on the floor and fell again! As Haley was falling, her right hand hit the Bible towards the judge. The judge caught the Bible and calmly set it on his desk. The people in the courtroom could not stop laughing. The judge looked at Haley and the man lying on the floor and just shook his head. The judge banged his gavel on the desk and announced that the court would take a 5-minute recess. Haley jumped to her feet and yelled, “Oh boy! Recess time! Which way is the playground?” The judge just groaned!
After the recess, the trial continued. The man with the Bible carefully helped Haley to sit down safely and she promised to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. They asked Haley to tell the courtroom about the fawn. Haley took them how she had found the fawn and named her Frank. The judge interrupted and asked why she had given a female fawn a boy’s name. Haley just said that the name seemed to fit. The judge just shook his head mumbled, “That figures!” Haley told them how Frank had been so lost and lonely, and how she had gotten Frank to trust her. She told them how she had got Frank to eat, and how she stayed with her in the barn when she was missing her mother.
Haley heard a noise and looked over at the teenage boy. She was surprised that he was crying. He was embarrassed, but he could not stop crying! Haley continued and told everyone in the courtroom how she had run through the forest with Frank when she was little, and now she had to use the 4-wheeler to keep up with Frank. She even told everyone how she had drowned the 4-wheeler in the creek when she was trying to keep up with Frank! Everyone in the courtroom was smiling and laughing, except for the teenage boy.
At the end of the trial, the judge found the teenage boy guilty and gave him a big fine. The judge warned the boy that if he ever did anything like this again, he would be spending some time in jail! The boy promised that he would never do anything like this again!
After the trial was over, the teenage boy came up to Haley and said, “I am so sorry for what I did! Thank you so much for adopting Frank and taking such good care of her!”
Later that night, back at the farmhouse, Haley said to Joe, “I still do not understand why that lawyer tried to prove that the teenage boy was not guilty. The boy never denied that he did it, and everyone could see how upset he was when he heard about Frank.”
Joe answered and said, “Haley, that lawyer’s job is to represent everyone who is assigned to him. That teenage boy could not afford a lawyer, so the court appointed that lawyer to represent the boy and be his advocate. Even though the boy was obviously guilty, the lawyer had to do his best to help the boy. The lawyer did the best he could and helped the judge see that the boy had not done anything like this before and was not a bad person. So, the teenage boy only got a fine this time. The lawyer did a good job and represented the boy the best he could.”
Joe then told Haley, “We can learn a little bit more about ‘who you are’ from this experience. All people in this world are guilty because we are sinners. Everyone sins every day, no matter how hard they try to be good. All of us deserve to be punished forever because of our sins, but when a person believes in Jesus, and asks Him to forgive them and come into their life, something wonderful happens! God forgives our sins because Jesus paid for our sins when He died on the cross for us! But we still are sinners, and we still sin every day. Satan, our enemy, loves to accuse us because we are sinners, but Jesus is our advocate in heaven! When Satan accuses us because we have sinned, Jesus points out that our sins are forgiven and removed completely because Jesus paid for our sins, and we have accepted the forgiveness offered by Jesus.”
In the Bible in I John 2:1-2 it says:
My dear children, I’m writing this to you so that you will not sin. But suppose someone does sin. Then we have a friend who speaks to the Father for us. He is Jesus Christ, the Blameless One. He gave His life to pay for our sins. But He not only paid for our sins. He also paid for the sins of the whole world.
In heaven, right now, Jesus is the advocate of every believer! No matter what Satan says to try to accuse us, the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross covers all our sins! When Satan accuses, Jesus points to the scars in his hands and feet and reminds Satan that He paid for all sins when He died on the cross. Jesus says something like this, “That person is a believer! That person belongs to Me! I paid for their sins and have removed them completely!” Satan has no answer because it is true, every believer is completely forgiven because Jesus paid the price for the sins of the whole world!
If you have not believed in Jesus, prayed and asked for His forgiveness and asked Him to come into your life, then you do not have an advocate in heaven. When Satan accuses you of doing something wrong, Jesus remains silent because you have not made the decision to ask Jesus to forgive you and come into your life. Please take time and pray to Jesus today and ask Him into your life!