When I was in high school one of my teachers had a poster up in her classroom with the phrase “Ignorance is Not an Excuse in the Court of Law.” At the time I had high hopes of becoming a lawyer.  And even though my career took a turn when I learned that law school was three years, the phrase stuck with me.

The official legal term is “Ignorantia Juris Non Excusat,” and in my loose legal translation it essentially means that people cannot claim ignorance as an excuse to do something illegal.  I have been thinking about this lately as I have been feeling convicted about the faith and the Bible which I claim so fervently to love.

I can picture Judgment Day and going up to the Throne of God and attempting to claim my ignorance of His Law as the reason for my disobedience. I then imagine laughter infiltrating the depths of Heaven. I grew up in a home where we had about 4 Bibles per capita, access to countless sermons (in HD), books available on order, and Google. I’ve had parents and a plethora of teachers willing to listen to the questions I’ve had and answer them with research and deep consideration. All these thoughts brought me back to “Ignorantia Juris Non Excusat.”  I really have no excuse.