My Friend Jiminy

"Let your conscience be your guide" said Jiminy Cricket to the puppet Pinocchio. That line from the beloved story popped up from my memory as I was contemplating the purpose our conscience plays in helping us guide our choices. The first thing I examine from the quote above, is the word "guide". The picture of a guide is one who leads the way, knows the road ahead, alarms of coming danger. It will not do at all then if the guide follows behind us now, would it? Then there is the word "conscience." The dictionary defines it as, " The inner sense of what is right and wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action."  We might have different interpretations of what this "inner voice" is inside a person. Often we might feel it is an interruption that takes place outside our own thoughts at times. We may think it is an intuitive understanding about something, as a premonition. We might feel that it is a series of experiences throughout our lives that have formed the conclusions of what we believe is trustworthy for making good decisions. All of these are pieces of a puzzle to this thing we call our conscience. To gain greater understanding, I want to think of how I might put it into context from a biblical perspective, although I am no theologian. We have opposing foes in the conflict to our heeding our conscience and they are beautifully portrayed in the Disney version of Pinocchio. Desire, Passion and Lust are played out in childish, unrestrained, gullible, and undisciplined youthful indulgence. They sway us to lend an ear to all the wrong voices that might feed the raging passions inside, and so, we capitulate. We shrug off of our shoulders like an annoying pest, our one true friend Jiminy, letting wanton desire lead the way. Because, if we admit it, it is what we want at the moment. I have often wondered about myself, much like Paul described in his letter to the Romans. In Romans 7:15 NASB, the heading of the chapter reads, "The conflict of the two natures". He writes, "For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate." Paul's comment here is in context to the Law, the Law of God given to Israel, for which Paul as a pious Jew, worked to live out flawlessly as a Pharisee, before he met Christ. But in no way was he saying that Christ came to abolish the Law. The Law is our teacher. What does it teach us? I want to make a connection between two of my thoughts; that of the Law and the conscience. In the context of what I believe, our Creator introduces us to the law and the conscience in the Creation story. The first law was established in the Garden, with the Tree, the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In Genesis 2:16,17 NKJV " And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may eat freely, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die." God laid it out, one simple command to obey Him. I see from this that without the Law first, we are able to know what is good and evil? It was made clear to man. To obey God would always be good for them, and to disobey would be bad...... very bad. Therefore without the Law, our conscience would not be born in us. It then appears to me that a distinction was made at the outset between our will and His, with what we want and what He wants. So we are made free agents, with choices of how we govern ourselves. With the law, and our inability to keep it which resides in all descendants of Adam through disobedience, we then also have something else that resides within us, our conscience. Because, with the partaking of the Tree, came the knowledge of good and evil. So we are without excuse, when we willfully shrug off these gifts, to follow after the carnal nature. A picture emerges like the pieces of the puzzle when being fit together how the conscience works and why this inner law speaks to us. The conscience sends out many signals and may encompass many feelings, such as guilt, or fear, along with positive feelings of peace or security, depending on what direction we are taking. Another teacher then comes along to help us after we have made our choices... Consequences. When God established a law with the Tree, he gave out the consequences that will follow our actions. Our actions then, produce fruit, a set of experiences that tell us our choices produced good or bad fruit. Without that, there aren't the necessary lessons teaching us the way to go.   There is a lot we do to make our conscience ineffective in our lives. We can make many rationalizations or justifications for ourselves that we hope will divert the consequences that will come with our choice, attempting to make bad fruit appear good. We may think by the prolonging of consequences, it is not coming, so we may be living our lives out waiting for the "shoe to drop", looking behind us on the road. Or maybe we have crafted a world without all of these notions, calling them bondages of the "religious right" or the tyranny of governments and authorities in the world. But what is it that really enslaves us? And why? That i'll save for another topic. Finally, I notice the word in the quote that may have sat there unnoticed, "Let". Let: "To allow or permit to pass, through or come or go. To grant, occupancy or use." Something in my control, and power to execute. A word that tells me it is up to me. I have a free will over my choices and actions. I give my power and will over for Good or Evil. I am continually examining myself, and the actions that define what I believe or what I trust will satisfy. I have seen myself turn off the voice of Jiminy on my shoulder, to run with those who help make it feel most agreeable to indulge in the Carnival of the Flesh, only to make a donkey out of me. And my spirit, His Spirit that is in me and my flesh are in conflict, but with each, a road open to me at all times, full of the unexpected, with a destination, that I may not have wished to consider before I headed on my way... I will chose His Way.