It is your turn; the police pull you over for speeding, what is your response? Are you one that tries to talk your way out of the ticket coming up with all sorts of stories from there was a bee in my car to faking an alien abduction? Do you accept the ticket begrudgingly? Do you just accept the ticket and take responsibility for your actions?
I have never been caught speeding. I have been driving for over 15 years and really try to stay within the speed limit, although sometimes I know that my foot gets a bit heavy and before I know it I am speeding.
My heart always jumps an extra beat in these situations when I see the officer pass me going the other way or pulls into a lane next to me. Then I start thinking 'Is today my turn to get my first ticket and will I cry, will I make an excuse, or will I be honest and truthful and except the consequence for my action?
Recently, I had a friend tell me that her mum has talked her way out of more than 10 tickets. In fact once she told the officer that she never had been given a ticket before, but he told her that doesn't matter, she was speeding so he wrote one up. A few weeks later the officer called her and cancelled the ticket because he did not want to be the first.
Another instance, someone I know cried and pretended a whole fictional event had taken place, claiming that they got some really bad news at the doctor. The officer of course felt sympathy for them and told them not to speed and to get home safely and let them go, all the while they had their teenager in the back seat playing along with this and crying as well.
This seriously makes me frustrated. If we are going to speed, we know that we are breaking the law and therefore we need to be ready for the consequences. I do understand that real life tragedies occur and that if one has really happened that is when you should discuss it with the police officer.
Real questions
Should we really be driving if we are so caught up in thinking about what is happening in our life that we are not paying attention to the speed limit and what else are we not paying attention to when we are driving then? Maybe we should have someone else drive us around. Of course there are also those life and death moments when you need to get someone to the hospital, but those are few and far and between then the norm.
As Christians, we need to remember that we are told to let our yes be yes and our no be no. If we are lying to the officer so that we can get out of a ticket because we all know that the speed limit should be higher any ways, then we are really not being witnesses at all, and we are sinning. What other areas of your life are you willing comprise if you are willing to lie to a God given authority?
What kind of example are we being to our children when they watch us talk our way out of the ticket, "well Mr. Officer you see……" They hear us as we cheer that we beat the law again. We are throwing our influence out the window or rather we are discipling our children that it is okay to lie to get out of tickets, even though we were in the wrong.
Our Children are watching our every move; they are going to do what we do. In fact they are probably going to use that very line on us one day when they get home late, get a ticket themselves, or worse try and shift the blame for mistakes they make. What type of children do we want to raise? Who will they lie to if they see us lying to an officer?
We need to be held accountable for our actions. I say that the next time we are caught, rather than blame the officer, 'man up', or actually be 'convicted up' and assume responsibility for our wrong doing. "Yes Officer I was speeding and I was aware, I am sorry." No lies, no comprise. ' I was speeding and I was caught.' The officer is not bad, they are doing their job and I was in the wrong. 'I was the one speeding. '
Genevieve Wilson is married with two children who served with YWAM for eight years in Brisbane and now serving in mission in Canada as a modern day abolitionist.
Genevieve Wilson's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/genevieve-wilson.html