Returning from a short trip last week I pulled off the interstate, and as I did, a police car pulled in behind me. I kept watching for his blue lights as I pulled into a shopping center, again he followed. When I parked, he stopped behind my car. “What have I done wrong,” I thought, as the officer walked up to my window. “Did you just get gas?” he asked, “Because your gas cap is hanging outside your car.” I thanked the policeman as I screwed my gas cap back on.
Every day across this country police officers do tens of thousands of good deeds that go unappreciated. They direct traffic at our schools each morning, rescue family pets, and save drivers from burning vehicles. All this as they put their lives on the line arresting the law breakers in our cities.
We are to be “in subjection” to these officers of the law, as they are working under the authority of God, “for there is no authority except from God.” We are reminded that this authority is not “a cause of fear for good behavior,” only if we “do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing” (Rom. 13:4). The next time you see a policeman thank him or her for the service they give to our cities and country. I know I will think of the good they do the next time I screw my gas cap back on.
-Dennis Doughty