There are a couple of law enforcement officers who put videos up on Facebook showing what their encounters with people can be like. So often the officer will come up to the car he has stopped and he is wearing a camera but he is also being videoed from his patrol car so the person being stopped is not being shown. But you can hear both sides of the conversation during the encounter. The officers on camera are always polite but the people they show are insulting and abusive. Most of them have broken the speed limit by at least 15 mph or have done something wrong that is really obvious. And they demand to know why they were stopped. Some refuse to roll down their window or show their license or registration and insurance. They pretty much all tell the officer that they have rights and they don’t have to show him anything. The officers are patient with the people but they don’t walk away. Sometimes people are just deciding that they don’t have to respond, others are hiding driving with suspended licenses or no registration or insurance. The ones they show are pretty abusive and many of them are arrested on site for refusing a lawful order. But the amazing thing is that once the officer arrests them, after repeatedly and politely just asking for ID, their attitudes change. When the handcuffs go on, they want to do whatever the officer wants now. Everyone now wants a second chance or is going to sue them and sue the law enforcement department. The crazy thing is that all they had to do is to show what they are required by law to show…and the officers say that often all they were going to do was to issue a warning…but now these folks are going to be transported to a station, charged and booked. And a good portion of them end up crying in the patrol car saying “I didn’t know that this would happen!” So often people live as if actions have no consequences. The problem extends to our relationships with God. The Bible tells us that you can’t mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. If we choose to live to satisfy our own sinful nature…the result will be decay and death from that nature. But if you will let God do his work of growth in you…the promise is a crop of real life…eternal life. So as a follower of Jesus Christ, don’t get tired of doing good. Don’t quit or give up. God promises that choosing his way will be worth it now and in eternity. So don’t live for yourself or to satisfy your desires touched by self or sin. Every time you get a chance, do all the good you can while you can. Don’t live thinking that your life before God doesn’t count. It does and it will. Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength…and love the people he puts around you. If you do that…you are going to do great according to God. Here’s our Bible verse for today…
Galatians 6:7-10 NLT Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. (8) Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. (9) So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. (10) Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.
Remember, I’m praying for you today….
PJ
Galatians 6:7-10 NLT Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. (8) Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. (9) So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. (10) Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.
Remember, I’m praying for you today….
PJ