As a little boy I did not understand when my dad first called me his, “Jiminy Cricket.” One of the great wonders of my childhood was my dad would take me almost everywhere he went. Several times he took me overnight to the fire station for his entire 24-hour shift. Going shopping? He would take me with him. Going camping, hiking, swimming, scuba diving, movies, side carpenter jobs, he would take me with him. To the neighbors off we would go. As a little boy it was wonderful to be dad’s tag-a-long. One day he called me his, “Jiminy Cricket.” “What do you mean, dad.” “Well son, it is hard to get in trouble with you on my shoulder and with me all the time. You are like little Jiminy Cricket sitting on Pinocchio’s shoulder reminding me of what is right.” I was his little Jiminy Cricket (little jc) sitting on his shoulder reminding him of right and wrong.
It is easy to sin and go off the beaten path but when you have someone with you, sitting on your shoulder like “little jc” it is a good reminder to do what is right and not what is wrong. Jiminy Cricket once said, “Well, I’m goin’ with ya. Pinocchio’s gonna need his conscience, and that’s where I come in.” (Movie, Pinocchio, Walt Disney). Have we ever thought of taking Jesus Christ (BIG JC) with us on our shoulder all day long? Just as little jc would remind Pinocchio of right and wrong, think about having BIG JC on our shoulder as we go about our daily lives.
Consider what Isaiah had to say, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’” (Isa. 30:21 [NKJV]). Wow, having BIG JC constantly on our shoulder reminding us of what the right way to walk in His word! Have we ever driven down the highway and had someone cut us off? Do we get all riled up and want to show some road rage? With BIG JC on our shoulder telling us, “This is the way, drive in it” we just might not respond with hostility. Our conscience, BIG JC is riding on our shoulder.
“He [BIG JC] has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8). Words to live by with BIG JC riding alone with us, sitting on our shoulder whispering (and sometimes yelling) in our ear, “This is the way, walk in it”.
Pinocchio needed guidance and a conscience. Are we like Pinocchio needing guidance and a conscience? Looking back, my dad loved me so much that he took me with him almost everywhere he went. I was his “little jc”. Now, as we go through this life with all the pulls and desires of sin this world has to offer, put BIG JC on your shoulder. Take BIG JC everywhere with you and remember His ways and walk in them.
