Speeding Along

I got caught. There are no two ways about it: I got caught red-handed. Or red-footed. Or lead-footed, more like. And it's my own fault.

I was on the way to the grocery store on Sunday afternoon, traveling down a road I use constantly, and I noticed a police officer monitoring the speed of passing cars. I slowed down when I saw him and told myself that I'd better remember that on my way home or I might be in trouble. Sure enough, on my way home I had forgotten all about the officer lying in wait and I was motoring along and singing with the radio when I noticed the flashing blue lights in my rear view mirror. All of a sudden I remembered what I'd seen on my way to the store.

The officer was nice enough, I was duly chastened, and as if it wasn't bad enough to get a speeding ticket (51 in a 35 zone, in case you're wondering), I also got a citation for not having current proof of insurance in my car!

I take full responsibility for my ticket - I own it and I earned it. My sweet husband could have had any number of snarky responses but he chose to give grace (though I'm sure I'll be teased about it many times in the future). The simple fact is there's a law and whether I meant to or not, I broke it. The police officer was just doing his job to enforce the law.

The road I was on is a shortcut from my neighborhood to a shopping area. I travel it almost daily, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day, and I've never paid attention to the speed limit signs. If pressed I would have guessed a 40 mph limit maybe. And if I'd paid attention to what I was doing I might have noticed that I was going pretty fast, even if I was right about it being a 40 mph zone. Now, speeding has become one of those little things that people, some Christians included, tend to brush off as no big deal. But the very fact that I slowed down when I saw that police officer tells me that I knew I was doing something I wasn't supposed to be doing. And here's the thing: I didn't even pay any attention to my speed on that road. I wasn't worried at all about whether or not I was breaking the law by speeding. I was just driving at what felt like a comfortable speed for me. Was I hurting anyone by speeding? Well, maybe not at that particular moment, but if I'd had to stop suddenly my added speed could have made a dramatic difference.

It's so easy to get into the habit of doing what feels comfortable, even if it's not always the right thing. It's like some part of me is tapping on my shoulder and whispering in my ear, "Psst! Are you sure you should be doing that?" and I've gotten so used to tuning it out that I don't even hear it anymore. And then I got caught. And if it hadn't been for that nice officer so pleasantly (and expensively) pointing it out to me, I probably would have kept right on speeding down that road (and many, many others). I was always taught that Christians are to obey the law of the land unless it contradicts or conflicts with God's word or law, which I suppose makes my speeding a sin. Ouch!

So it got me to thinking: how many other "roads" am I continuing to speed down, just because I haven't been caught yet? You know, other sins work that way too. Little sins don't seem like a big deal because no one seems to be getting hurt, but they'll eventually catch up with us in the end. Or we sin by "accident" because we're just not paying attention to the signs around us or what we're doing. It gets to be a habit, just going along doing what we want because we're either unaware, don't think it really matters, or just don't care about doing what's right. But it does matter, because our hearts can get hardened by continually slapping duct tape across that still small voice that tries to steer us in the right direction. And while breaking the law by speeding seems like a small sin, as Christians we know there is no hierarchy of sin - they're all equal in God's eyes. Harsh? Maybe. True? Definitely.

This has been a humbling experience for me, partly because I've been one of those who thought speeding was no big deal and I've had to ask forgiveness for that. I've had to explain myself to my children and let them see that Mommy messed up and now will have to pay (literally!) the consequences for it. I've explained to them that it's important to do the right thing even if no one is watching and there's no fear of getting caught.

Here's hoping this is my final speeding ticket.