God tells us "the borrower is slave to the lender" as a picture of indebtedness. He knew the status of man and established economic policies for young Israel. Debts were cancelled and lands returned at specific times. Debt can come from natural events such as medical or selfish from ourselves. Whatever the way, it is a form of slavery. Imagine you paycheck is partially spent even before it is in your hands. Therefore you are not workiing for yourself but for the lender as a form of indentured servant. You serve at his pleasure until the weight of debt is removed. Even if you leave one job for another, the lender follows you where you go.
Churches saddle themselves with debt and lose the opportunity to help others. I served a church for five years with a debt which was nearly ten percent of their annual giving. Imagine the ministry we could have done with this removed from our backs. Nations, including this country, find themselves in debt. In the time of the Old Testament, one form of punishment was to pay tribute and taxes to Gentile rulers. They still owed the taxes and tithes to God, but now they were twice burden due to their own sinfulness.
From the sixties when we have removed God from school and the courthouse, our SOCIAL programs have taxed us to death. We give tax breaks to some and tax others. Our nation is crumbling financially but this is the result of spiritual crumbling. One will not be fixed till we have repented our sins. It is the love of money and not money itself which has replaced God--we want it all. So, bring out the charge card or head to the bank to get the loan and buy it. They will not solve the hole in the heart. Only God can.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Thankfulness As A Child
The wonderful thing about being a parent of a child later in life is going to the movies. We choose to see only PG movies, but this includes all the cartoon movies I want to see. Walking into a theatre with a bucket of popcorn, soda, and candy, we went to see HOP this past weekend. The movies trailers for the next several months showed additional cartoon features. I remember going to the movies in Orlando and taking RC bottle caps to win a chance at a bike. I remembered the movies at the Orange Blossom Shopping Center and then walking down the sidewalk for ice cream at Dipper Dan's. Life was simple for this young child.
Now, I have backaches and bills to pay. I have to deal with work issues and family crisis. The work of a hospice worker means dealing with death and families in their grief. How can I be thankful as a child? I look at Stefani for that answer.
Children have to be taught to say thank-you. It is not one of the first words which comes out of their mouths. It takes patience and practice for them to get the point of saying thanks for something. Children seem to think the world revolves around them. Teaching them to say thank you takes the focus off of them and onto the giver. Saying thank you reminds us we did not have something and needed another to provide us with it. Thankfulness says I need you.
Childlike thankfulness means I have to thank God for each day and every moment. I need to praise him for my food and job. I need to say thank you to him for my family and their family issues. I need to thank him for bills because he has given me the income to pay them.
Paul tells us, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me." (1 Corinthinans 13:11) I guess the more I can thank him for the problems and issues in my life I am moving from child-like thanksgiving to adult-like thanksgiving.
Now, I have backaches and bills to pay. I have to deal with work issues and family crisis. The work of a hospice worker means dealing with death and families in their grief. How can I be thankful as a child? I look at Stefani for that answer.
Children have to be taught to say thank-you. It is not one of the first words which comes out of their mouths. It takes patience and practice for them to get the point of saying thanks for something. Children seem to think the world revolves around them. Teaching them to say thank you takes the focus off of them and onto the giver. Saying thank you reminds us we did not have something and needed another to provide us with it. Thankfulness says I need you.
Childlike thankfulness means I have to thank God for each day and every moment. I need to praise him for my food and job. I need to say thank you to him for my family and their family issues. I need to thank him for bills because he has given me the income to pay them.
Paul tells us, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me." (1 Corinthinans 13:11) I guess the more I can thank him for the problems and issues in my life I am moving from child-like thanksgiving to adult-like thanksgiving.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)