One of the great wonders of my childhood was my dad taking me almost everywhere he went. Several times he took me overnight to the fire station for his entire twenty-four-hour shift. Shopping? I went with him. Camping, hiking, swimming, scuba diving, movies, side carpenter jobs — I would go too. Baseball games, to the neighbors, off we would go together.
Back then, it was wonderful to be Dad’s tag-along. One day he called me his Jiminy Cricket — his Little J. C. “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.”
That’s true for all of us. It is easy to sin and go off the beaten path, but when you have someone with you, sitting on your shoulder like Little Jiminy Cricket, it’s a good reminder to do what is right and not what is wrong. In Disney’s classic movie Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket served as Pinocchio’s conscience.
Have we ever thought of taking Jesus Christ — the Big J. C. — with us all day long? Just as Jiminy would remind Pinocchio of right and wrong, think about having Jesus 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’” (30:21). Wow. Having Jesus constantly on our shoulder, reminding us of 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 Jesus on our shoulder as our conscience, telling us, “This is the way, drive in it,” we might not respond with hostility. On the morning I wrote this, I was cut off in traffic three times on the way to work. I was sure happy to have Jesus on my shoulder to remind me to keep calm and drive on.
“He 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 Jesus riding along with us, whispering (and sometimes yelling) in our ear.
Pinocchio needed guidance and a conscience. Are we like him? Looking back, I know my dad loved me so much that he wanted me with him as his Little J. C. As we go through this life, with all the pulls and desires of sin this world offers, put Jesus Christ on your shoulder. Take Him everywhere with you. Remember His ways and walk in them.
