embraced by Grace

I turned on the tv this morning and started flipping through channels, while multi-tasking of course - being online and eating breakfast. My attention was caught by what I thought was a high speed car chase broadcast by our local news station. I guess if you know who my father (former policeman, current fire/rescue chief) and brother (member of the rescue squad) are then it's no surprise that I was now enamored with this chase. The multi-tasking had stopped and I only could focus on the tv; I did not, after all, want to miss a moment!
The chase involved a guy in a little Honda. The cop was chasing him and every time the police tried to cut him off, he would swerve to try and hit their car. He ran a few red lights thankfully with no repercussions. Then he came up behind a car who apparently wasn't moving fast enough for him - and he rammed it. Another cop car cut him off and the bad guy got out of his car, hands up in the air, was tackled by the police and cuffed.
It turns out the Honda was stolen and drug paraphernalia was found inside. Pretty typical huh?! But here's the thing....
My heart broke for this guy. I welled up with emotion when I saw the look on his face. All I could think about was how broken he must be to be making the decisions that led him to his current circumstances. Prior to that moment, my thoughts were that he was a complete inconsiderate fool for putting so many other people at risk, and injuring the driver of the car that he hit. Though he is obviously responsible for those decisions - and yes it was wrong, I still experienced an amount of compassion for this man that I can assure you did not begin with my flesh. It simply had to be a glimpse of the heart of Jesus toward people. Especially people who seem to really, really not deserve it. Then again...I am one of those people. I don't deserve His grace, yet He lavished it upon me.
What I was watching on tv wasn't actually a broadcast from the local news station; it was an episode of COPS. That kinda cracked me up a bit; I wonder if it stirred my heart a bit more to think that this guy was in my town, that this chase had happened in recent hours. I don't know, but I do know that I want to experience God's heart towards people. More often. And not just through the tv.