Civic Duty

"Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people"- 1 Peter 2:13-15 (NIV).

If my brother doesn't get called tomorrow, he's made it through the week without having his number pulled for jury duty. Serving on a jury is the civic duty of every citizen. Have you ever served? Every time I've been called I've been dismissed. In the beginning, it was due to being the mother of small children. Later, I was excused for being in education. I would not have minded serving; it's my civic duty, but don't we all just sigh when we get that letter and then hope, and possibly pray, we don't have to serve. We can equate this to the times when the Lord calls us to serve. What does not fit "our" plan is subject to being skirted, refused, or requested to be excused. Moses asked to be excused from his calling to return to Egypt to lead his people out of bondage. Wasn't on his to-do list. We are citizens of this life, but most importantly, citizens of God's realm. Would you refuse Him? The fruit of obedience to God, which includes submitting to human authority, is to silence the ignorant talk of foolish people by doing good, by doing our duty; if not, we can be included as one of the foolish people.