In 1829, George Wilson robbed a United States mail carrier. In 1830, he was found guilty of several charges and was sentenced to execution by hanging. Wilson had influential friends who went to President Andrew Jackson to appeal the sentence. The president issued a formal pardon, dropping all charges. Wilson would have to serve a prison term of 20 years for other crimes, but there would be no execution. However, George Wilson refused the pardon!
Since then, many have asked why anyone would ever refuse the pardon because it’s hard to imagine. However, many people do the same thing every day. Each of us are guilty of sin and deserve to pay the penalty of death for that sin. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death…” However, the rest of that verse reminds us that “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Through the death of Christ, we have all been given a pardon. All we have to do is accept the pardon—the choice is up to us. Some accept the pardon, while others refuse it.
There are conflicting accounts of what happened to Wilson. One account says President Martin VanBuren gave him another pardon and he accepted that one. Another account says he was hanged. I don’t know for sure what happened to him, but what if Wilson was never given that choice? What if he never knew about the pardon?
IDES is here to provide Help & Hope to those in need. We want to Help individuals through the difficulties of life, but more importantly, we want to give them Hope for their future by letting them know they have a choice.
~Rita Camden (IDES Finance Director)