Monday; July 18

Many parts of the country are gearing up for another political season. The summer is the time many states host their primaries with an eye toward General Elections in the fall. With this chance to vote comes with it an appeal to the populous to exercise one of their basic rights. In our nation, one of the most important opportunities provided to its people is the ability to elect our leaders. In fact, there are some people who will advocate that participating in the electoral process is the sign of being a good citizen. Now, while I am thankful for the ability to choose those who decide our legal direction, there is another act of citizenship that needs to be considered – obeying the laws. Sure, it is a blessing to be able to influence the law-making process, but the essence of the type of people we are is displayed in how we interact with the laws once they are decided. Good citizenship is more than turning out to vote every couple of years, it is living according to the laws of the land each and every day. I will not pretend to believe that we all agree on all the laws, but I do believe we have an obligation to live by them. In fact, I will take this one step further by saying that if we want to be even better citizens, we should individually set our standards higher than the legal minimums required by society; however, at the bare minimum, we need to live according to the rules society has established for its citizens.

In all honesty, my view doesn’t mean much; the opinion that matters is the one of the Ultimate Judge who isn’t limited by a fine, jail term or prison sentence – His decision will impact us through eternity. When the Holy Spirit related God’s opinion on this matter we are told, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” (Romans 13:1-2).

Let’s be good citizens. Let’s obey the law.

Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday; May 3

I have a fish tank that allows my three Bettas (Larry, Darrell and Darrell) to live in the same structure, but remain hidden from each other – well sort of.   When I go to feed the fish, I believe that one of the Darrell’s can sort of see that the other Darrell is getting fed and he will linger over on that side of the tank even after I put his food in his tank.   I have to tap on the side of the tank where his food is floating to help him refocus and eat.   I get the impression that he is so interested in what is going on in the other Darrell’s tank that he can’t enjoy his own food. I have been told that the brain of a fish is pretty small – which explains their inability to process “blessings”, but are we guilty of the same malady as Darrell?   Are we so worried (or consumed) by what happens to the people around us that we fail to realize what is going on with us?   Are we envious of the blessings that others are receiving and end up missing out on what we have been given?   Are w
Read more

Thursday; February 14

         While most of us are familiar with today being Valentine’s Day, there are some who actually refer to February 14 th as “St. Valentine’s Day”.  This title is often affixed to a criminally historic event known as “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” on February 14, 1929 in Chicago, but that is another story for another time.  Not knowing much about the history of “Saint Valentine” I did a little research and found out he was a Roman religious leader who was martyred in 269 AD.  According to my limited research Valentine was killed because of his encouragement of Roman men (especially soldiers) to marry which was in violation of Claudias’ edict that prohibited marriage to keep their minds singularly focused on their task of defending the Empire.  Somehow, from this beginning – and possibly embellished by Chaucer – St. Valentine became intertwined with the concept of romantic love.           I am not really sure how February 14 th became connected with love, but inspired by thi
Read more

Wednesday; December 6

What does it mean to be a leader? I subscribe to the belief that a leader is someone who seeks the best for others and works with them to achieve their potential. There are others; however, who define leadership as the ability to have a vision and the tenacity to get their own way. Leaders who are this way are often portrayed as having developed the maturity to manipulate people to do things their way. However, is the ability to drive people in our direction mature or is it childish? The Christians of the 1st Century came from a lot of different backgrounds and had to work hard to work together. As the Apostle Paul challenged Christians in the city of Ephesus he challenged them to accept individual differences, “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. “ (Ephesians 4:13). Bossiness was not to be viewed as a sign of maturity, a willingness to wo
Read more