day no. 16,617: give the state the faints; say, "no, thanks!"

1 Timothy 2:1-2

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

We ought to pray for the State. It cannot resist the urge to overreach without intercession. When we pray for our authorities, we ought to pray for them to exercise authority only where called upon by God to do so; that is, punishing evil doers, defending the innocent, and acknowledging the righteous. That is a healthy state for the State to be in.

When the State is in a bad state of mind, however, it needs to be needed. It passes laws for the sake of job security. It executes its office by running for office.

Give the State the faints; say, "No, thanks!"

It has no category for a free man or woman. It imagines it has all but eliminated that possibility by so incentivizing dependency as to make liberty unattractive. It cannot imagine anyone still going in for all that self-governance hullabaloo.

But some still do. And our quiet, peaceable lives of godly, honest, integrity are like cannon blasts in their ears. So, raise a righteous racket. Be at peace with God and wage war on magisterial overreach by simply saying, "No, thank you."