Hoist the black flag

This is a quote that you can see almost everywhere.  

"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats."  From Menckens' Prejudices.  

It is on shirts, coffee mugs, Facebook, bumper stickers.  A lot of places.  Just reading the quote instills an image of grizzled pirates chasing down a ship, running up the colors, shouting, waving swords, and preparing for the general mayhem and butchery that they are expecting to begin. Sometimes they win and sometimes not.  You know the movies.  And on the surface, that is exactly what this quote is talking about.  

To me it means something deeper.  This talks of a commitment given, a path chosen, a promise with an expectation to deliver.  Once the flag is raised, there is no going back.  A pirate would not be a very good pirate if they got halfway to the other ship and decided to turn away.  Discontentment would arise in the ranks of the crew, questions would be raised, mutiny may be discussed quietly or openly.  Now you may be asking yourself, "what does piracy have to do with me", or some of you may catch the point.  To me it is not about piracy, but commitment.  

For giggles, let's stick with the pirate theme, though you could switch it to hunting, Nascar, sports, whatever.  In these endeavors, there is a goal.  Not just a small goal, but the best.  The Boone and Crockett monster, the Cup, the gold medal.  Whatever you can see yourself striving for.  Can you see it on the horizon?  Maybe you catch a quick glimpse of it and then it is gone again.  So you try harder, pushing yourself to become bigger, faster, stronger thinking that if you could make a faster lap that you could see it better.  

A shout comes up from the crows' nest, they have spotted something, white sails in the distance.  Man, now its on.  Full sails, eager smiles, sharpening stones, and dreams of the prize.  Money in their pockets that is already spent on worldly things.  Ready for a little caveat?  A little twist...

What if that goal that we are hurtling toward is God?  Wanting to catch Him, to be closer to Him, to know Him more.  We see Him on the horizon, just for a quick second, the call is given, the flag raised, the commitment given.  The commitment to dive deeper into his word daily.  The commitment to allow Him to use us as a loving husband and father.  The commitment to raise our children as arrows for His Glory.  (Psalm 127:4)  

Daily devotions, worship alone and with your spouse, teaching your children about God and His mercies.  Supper around the table talking, asking questions, just being there.  These are just some of the things that can bring us closer to Him, our ultimate goal. A man of God is a commitment maker and keeper, prayerfully deciding the direction that the Lord would have him go and sticking to the course, even if there are detours along the way.