It was six in the morning, and I was driving to work. I liked to start early. It gave me time alone in the office before anyone else came, and it made it possible to finish my hours early and have more time with the family later in the day. There was no traffic driving into town and-a special bonus-it was usually possible to find one of the very few free parking places about ten minutes' walk from the office.
I turned on the car radio to hear the news, and there was the announcement: "Municipality workers are on strike today. They will not issue parking tickets." That made me happy indeed. I would be able to park right next to the office, and I could avoid the extra twenty minutes of walking.
I started to change direction, away from distant parking places and towards a day's free parking next to my office. Then came a very clear word in my head: "And did they also change the parking laws?" I must confess that it was not something I wanted to hear at that moment. But the question made me realize that it did not matter that there was a strike. I should be paying the parking because that was the law, not because I might get punished if I did not pay. The municipality only hires people to check the parking meters because many "good citizens" will disobey the law and not pay unless they are monitored.
Why are we as believers expected to be good citizens? Is it just because we are afraid of punishment if we get caught? Or is it because authority is from God, and obeying authority is obeying him? And even if the law enforcement people are not watching, God in heaven sees everything we do.
- 5 DECEMBER -