Laws

We have rules in our home. Despite that many of these laws are unwritten, (all are, in fact, unwritten), they still hold within their parameters the power of behavioral change.  As an example my wife and I spent many years quarrelling about making the bed.  She seemed to think that it was necessary to make the bed daily, whereas I viewed things from another angle. 

“What is so hard about making the bed?” She would tersely ask.

“I don’t know…it is just so dumb!”

“Are you saying that I am dumb for wanting to have the bed made?”

“No! I never said that!”

“Then why don’t you make the bed?”

“I don’t know!”

“Make the bed!” She demanded.

“Ok…how about this…we can make the bed EVERY day…ONLY IF…we DON’T ‘unmake’ it each night.”

“That’s insane!”

“Are you calling me insane?”

Her silent stare screamed, “Do you really want me to answer that?”

After a great deal of responsible communication we were finally able to agree upon a solution that has been found satisfactorily acceptable by both parties. The official unwritten Law now states, “He or She who is last out of bed shall there upon make the bed.”

Interestingly, upon the ratification of this law, I suddenly became a staunch morning person.  So much so, that if I even hear her stir in the morning I dash out of bed in attempt to shed the consequent responsibility.  There may or may not have been several mornings that could have required an “instant replay” to determine whose feet actually hit the floor first.  They were mine…end of story.   

We have other laws in the home as well.  These laws include our children’s beds being made, dishes being loaded and unloaded from the dishwasher as well as laundry responsibilities.  There is also the law that if you are the one that plugs the toilet then you are the one that plunges the toilet.  It is astounding to me that no one ever seems to be the one who actually plugged it.

The laws in our home help to keep some semblance of order, but I must admit…that with my wife being gone to Ecuador for 10 days, our home seems to have the tendency to default from a place of pristine order into a state of lawlessness.  It appears that the 2^nd law of thermodynamics, which insists that everything goes from a state of organization toward a state of chaos, has been fully implemented in the Olson home over the last 10 days.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, Paul reveals a coming lawlessness as well, though in a spiritual sense.  In this challenging portion of scripture we get a glimpse of a future degradation of the world into lawlessness.  Though there are many details that are omitted from Paul’s description, what we can see, is what appears to be a direct attack against everything that God is.  This lawlessness will be a full assault on God’s goodness, His kindness and His love.  Everything that God is, will be attacked and attempted to be countered by Satan and his “man of lawlessness.”

This may seem to be so far into the distant future that it doesn’t feel real.  Yet I am convinced that if we just pause and reflect on our society we will quickly see the increasing lawlessness growing in the world. 

As hard as these realities will be to swallow and perhaps challenging for us to understand, we must question what is a believer’s role in the face of this lawless world.  I think we know. We…by the power of the Spirit in us…must LOVE.  Jesus himself said that all of the law and the prophets come down to this…to love God and love your neighbor.

May we come to love well in the midst of a lawless world, empowered by the Holy Spirit.