One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched (Luke 14:1).
I followed a state trooper on my way home one afternoon. We approached an intersection, and he turned the corner without using his turn signal or coming to a complete stop.
I chuckled at the irony because I’ve gotten pulled over for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign on a back road. Meanwhile, the trooper glided through the red light and turned the corner without his blinker.
Mid-judgment call, I realized I had expected a law officer to follow the traffic laws, even more so than a civilian driver. I don’t know what his mission was that day, what he faced, or what he was thinking at that intersection. Based on what I saw, he wasn’t following what I’d consider his A-game.
Thud! I’m not always on my A-game either!
When it comes to my faith life, as a believer in Jesus, I take an oath to follow God’s laws. People watch me. We watch each other. I claim to love Creator and love creation, but when I avoid someone or something that’s in my proverbial highway, others see how I drive, they also see my lack of drive at times.
Jesus was also under scrutiny. People constantly watched him. Some of His believers followed his kind and gracious example. Others believed, but didn’t always follow Him.
When Jesus healed a crippled hand on the Sabbath, Jesus’s critics turned on their siren to alert others that He broke one of their manmade laws. However, Jesus didn’t pull over. He was innocent because God gave Him a golden ticket when He entered earth’s roadways. Jesus followed His Father and led others to follow Him (side note: Did ancient laws define walking in Jesus’s footsteps as “J walking?” 😉).
I try to remember when I step into a judgement role that others patrol my actions. Do I view people under a critical microscope or through a gracious telescope? Am I a believer in word only or am a follower of God’s laws?
Time to be attentive to my traffic patterns of integrity,
Christina
Your turn!
Where do you find yourself most forgiving?
When do you find it hardest to give someone the benefit of the doubt?
Let’s kindly learn from each other. Please share your comments!