I just found out today that "Courageous" will play at Essex Cinemas for at least another week. Since seeing the movie Friday I have been thinking about what it means to be Dad, head of household. Paul has a lot to say about it in Chapter 3. After laying on a heavy trip about the Anti-Christ and the Mystery of Lawlessness and the End of the World, he takes a deep, calming breath, and says, "now, you men. Don't be lazy. Work hard. Mind your own business. If you don't work, you don't eat."
It seems an odd segue.
But - not really. Surely one of the greatest restraints on the spirit of lawlessness is the biblical teaching of family, hard work, and minding your own business. The lazy, rootless young man is a chaotic pimple on the hind end of humanity. He "produces" nothing but loud, late-night noise and graffiti. The young man who loves his work and his bride and his children is a happy person who produces something valuable every day is likely to promote the general order and welfare. So many men have said, "my Dad was my hero. Every day he got up and whether he felt like it or not, he went off to work and provided for us. He kept his nose out of other people's business and just put his head down and worked."
It is all very well to talk of singing hymns of victory while being led to martyr's chopping block, as I wrote yesterday. To this I may someday be called. But today Jesus says to me, "take up your cross and follow me." And so I do, obeying God by honoring my daily commitments to family and employer. And holding back the spirit of lawlessness for one more day in my own little way.
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