Officer Waxworks
READ: John 14:15-24
If you love Me, keep My commandments. —John 14:15
For several years, our family lived in southern California while I was pastoring a church there. The community in which we lived didn’t have the resources to fully patrol the streets with police. So there was a genuine concern about the lack of safety as a result of reckless driving.
In response to the situation, city officials came up with a solution they called Officer Waxworks. These uniformed mannequins were placed in patrol cars alongside the road. Obviously these "officers" couldn’t pursue lawbreakers or write tickets, but just the appearance of "manned" patrol cars was enough to make people slow down. It was a creative way to trick people into obeying the law.
As believers in Christ, we shouldn’t have to be forced or tricked into doing what’s right. In fact, obedience can be drained of its significance if we obey only out of obligation or duty. Our desire should be to do what is pleasing to our Lord because we love Him. Jesus said, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me" (John 14:21). We should "make it our aim . . . to be well pleasing to Him" (2 Cor. 5:9).
Let’s do what’s right out of a heart of gratitude for His grace to us.
Our motive for obedience
When trying to keep God’s ways
Is purest when we seek to please,
To love and give Him praise. —Sper
Our desire to please God is our highest motive for obeying God.
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