Speed Limit Enforced By Aircraft
(This post was written by Michael Wallace, High School Pastor)
Have you ever seen a sign like this? Last weekend our family was driving through Virginia where these signs are prominently displayed along major highways. I remember the first time I really looked at one, I nearly stopped the car to scour the skies in case there was an F-14 on my tail or a Stealth Bomber clocking me from down the road!
I was confused for two reasons. First, can an aircraft actually “enforce” the speed limit of a land-confined vehicle? Was my SUV in danger of being landed on or worse yet shot at by a National Guard aircraft? Or maybe Randy Quaid in a crop-duster like in the movie Independence Day? Second, assuming it is actually possible for aircraft to enforce speed limits on automobiles, I can hardly imagine a scenario where this is both necessary and cost effective. It doesn’t seem to be the best use of tax dollars to fuel a fleet of Black Hawk’s to collect a dozen $75 speeding tickets on a good day.
Either way, when I see these signs on the highway I am reminded that I routinely fail to believe everything I read. Whether it’s a metal sign on a Virginian road or the thin paper pages between the leather binding of God’s Word. How often do I read Scripture that should rock my world, only to pass over it quickly to get to the next verse. Like…
… Jesus in John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
… Paul in Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
… James, Jesus’ brother in James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
… or John in Revelation 22:20 “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”
The Bible is not a book of stories or suggestions, but the account of the God who loves us and has loved us since before the creation of this planet. Read it. And believe it.
