Lillies Of The Field...

Consider the lilies of the field…

Jesus warned us against greed, materialism, and for that matter worry about how we would care for ourselves and survive from day to day.  I appreciate the general sentiment and agree with it, but as in much of what my Lord spoke, I believe it was hyperbole and somewhat symbolic.  I don’t think he meant for us to sit on our bottoms and wait for everything to be handed to us.  So we logically do spend time considering paying the bills, and doing things to make sure we can.  In the process, we often realize we don’t have what we need to make ends meet, even if we are frugal.  Like all good humans, we generally look around for someone else to blame.  Who do we look at?

Big business and corporations seem to get the bad rap and are labeled as greedy.  Big government rarely gets that label…yet who is more ethical.  Big business is greedy and wants to make money off you from what you buy.  Big government wants your money and is just as greedy (in most states you already pay upwards of 50% of your earnings to them in various taxes and fees each year.) 

Which is the real evil?  If big business wants your money and you don’t want to pay them, then you just don’t buy their product.  Big government on the other hand, puts you in jail if you don’t buy their “product.”  You think you have a say with your elected representatives, but that is sluggish and ineffective at best…and lately it just been plain pathetic.

Most of the time you have virtually no representation because the bulk of the rules and regulations and fees imposed are done by boards, commissions and executive branches of various government entities that are complete unknowns and virtual untouchables to the common man.  The number of new rules and regulations adopted each year is staggering, and even extend into every area of your life from regulating which foods you can now eat to keep from being fat to how long you can park at a broken parking meter.

So where is the real evil?  War, oppression, poverty, religious persecution, racism and culturalism…all these are government’s actions, not the actions of businesses and corporations.  Businesses want you to have lots of money to spend on their products.  Think about it…

The Bible encourages us to render to the government what it considers its due and to pray for our leaders.  I think that is good advice, and I’d put heavy emphasis on the praying for our leaders to have real wisdom and to put the welfare of the country ahead of their own welfare and their own agendas.