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0:20 Hi, good to have everyone back today. 0:22 This week on The Daily Blade, I'm drawing on Cormac McCarthy's The Road, both the uh 2006 novel and the 2009 film, to unpack the biblical themes and parallels running through that story. 0:32 And so I'll do so by pulling some parallels for our Heavenly Father and also our earthly fathers. 0:38 And so during the film, we see the boy come across several situations with several situations where his natural inclination, right? 0:45 Just what's naturally in there is to help others, to sacrifice of himself. 0:49 Now, in this post-apocalyptic scenario, helping other people instead of helping yourself doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, right? 0:56 But that is just the boy's overwhelming desire. 0:59 That's his nature. 1:00 And there's even one point where they come upon a 90-year-old man that's walking along the same road as they are. 1:07 So the father, understandably, is incredibly skeptical and cautious about any other human being that they run into. 1:13 But the boy is just naturally drawn to this older gentleman. 1:17 He wants to help this old man in a way that he in any way that he can, really. 1:21 And eventually the father relents and they even invite the old man to sit down and have dinner around the campfire, sharing some of their meager rations with him. 1:28 And so let's look at the Heavenly Father parallel here. 1:31 So this is the image of God, this is the Imago Day, still operating in a child. 1:36 So children before the world hardens them, they often naturally reflect God's generosity. 1:42 They're certainly born into sin, but it's just something about a child and their nature. 1:46 And it reminds me of the parable of the Good Samaritan, as recorded in Luke 10. 1:50 So this is a story of mercy in dangerous conditions, because the victim is a man traveling down a notoriously dangerous road from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he's attacked by bandits. 1:59 They strip him, they beat him, they leave him half dead by the roadside. 2:02 And then we have a religious elite, right? 2:04 So a priest happens to walk down the same road, sees the wounded man, and passes by on the other side. 2:10 Then we have a Levite, which is another religious official. 2:13 He comes along, looks at the man, and also passes by on the other side. 2:18 And then we have the Samaritan. 2:20 He comes upon the man. 2:21 And in that era, Jews and Samaritans shared a deep-seated, bitter cultural and religious hatred that we can't even really begin to understand right now. 2:30 Yet the Samaritan feels deep compassion. 2:32 So he bandages the man's wounds, he pours oil and wine on them, he puts the man on his own animal, he takes him to an inn and cares for him, and the next day he even gives the innkeeper two denari, which is about two days' wages, and promises to cover any extra expenses on his return trip. 2:47 And even though it didn't make sense to give the time in those circumstances, mercy and help were the posture of the Samaritan's heart, just like the boy in the road. 2:57 Well, now let's look at the earthly father parallel on this. 3:00 So the father in the road sometimes, you know, reigning in the boy's generosity, understandably, but the tension is real for Christian fathers. 3:09 How do we raise sons who are simultaneously strong and generous? 3:14 And the answer isn't to crush the generosity, it's to channel it with wisdom. 3:20 We shouldn't be beating the compassion out of our sons trying to toughen them up. 3:23 That's not going to work. 3:25 And again, going back to the scene from the road, remember what I told you that about the boy, how he kind of naturally gravitated towards this old man? 3:33 So it's like this boy innately recognizes something important in aged, tested manhood, right? 3:39 Even though the father is understandably evaluating this man, you know, seeing if he's ultimately a threat to them. 3:45 But there are some heavenly father and biblical parallels here as well. 3:48 So Proverbs 16, 31, gray hair is a crown of glory. 3:52 It is gained in a righteous life. 3:54 And look, God built honor of elders into the law. 3:57 We see this in Leviticus 19. 3:59 You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God, I am the Lord. 4:06 And there's something really sacred in generational transmission, right? 4:09 So the young sitting at the feet of the old. 4:12 So we see so many examples of this in scripture. 4:14 I mean, just think about Paul and Timothy, right? 4:16 But the boy instinctively knows this. 4:18 And there's an additional earthly father parallel here as well. 4:22 This is a devastating indictment of our fatherless culture. 4:26 So boys without fathers, guys, they're going to find a father figure for good or for ill. 4:32 And the boy in the road gravitates towards an old man because it's written in him. 4:37 And men, for us, we should be the kind of elder that young men are drawn to. 4:42 And like and raise your sons to honor, not to dismiss older men who carry wisdom. 4:46 And we'll wrap up today with a quick interaction between the father and this old man. 4:50 So after they have dinner around the campfire, the boy falls asleep, and the father asks the old man a question. 4:58 And the old man's response is this no. 5:02 It's foolish to ask for luxuries at times like these. 5:06 So it reminds me of the story of Elijah under the juniper tree from 1 Kings 19, where he said, You know, is it it is enough now, O Lord, take my life. 5:13 But what was God's response? 5:15 It wasn't rebuke, it was food, rest, and then a still small voice. 5:22 So God doesn't shame men for wanting to quit, but he also doesn't grant the request. 5:27 There's still work ahead. 5:29 And the old man echoes this: I don't get that luxury. 5:32 I have to stay, that's the message. 5:34 And I know some of you need to hear that today. 5:36 You are not afforded the luxury of wishing you would die. 5:40 The fact that you are here is evidence that God has not fulfilled his purpose for your life through you yet. 5:45 There is still a ministry purpose that you have. 5:48 One of those main purposes is to pass down wisdom to your sons, to equip them to be the kind of man that will be passing on their wisdom when they have gray hair at that stage of life. 5:59 If you are in the sage stage of your life, the fourth quarter, if you will, you need to make sure you are pouring your wisdom into the next generation. 6:07 If you're in the middle part of your life, you need to be preparing for the sage stage. 6:11 And you also need to be equipping the children that God has placed in your care. 6:15 And if you are before both of those stages, you need to be a young man or a man that can receive direction and wisdom from someone that has more of it than you do.