Three squares and health care in jail looking pretty good to some people now

When sin entered the world, it didn't take long for all kinds of perverse thinking to follow. Almost as soon as Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, shame was first on the sin-list after their original sin- rebellion against God. (Gen 2:25; Gen 3:7), These were followed quickly by fear of the LORD (the bad kind of fear) and then blame. (Genesis 3:10; 12). The next generation followed with disrespect of the LORD, and anger, jealousy, then murder. (Genesis 4:3-8).

I listed these to show that the progression of sin always deepens. Just when you think it can go no lower, it does. Just when you think it can get no more perverse, it does. By Genesis 6:5, the thoughts of man were only evil, continuously. That is 100% sin saturation! So the LORD sent the Flood and started over, with Noah, who found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

Until very recent times, and I'm talking the middle of the last generation, people relied on themselves and family under the auspices of a godly structure to complete their life. They didn't go to the king for handouts as the default position. They didn't go to the Government as the first pass when needing something.

Social Security began in 1935 as a "social insurance" program. Think about the very name: Social. Security. There is only security in God, but the government through this program, wants to supplant God and provide for all your needs and make you secure. Soon, needs turned into wants which turned into entitlements. Praying for God's provision and living within our means He provides was out of the picture. Of course, security is in God only, but this generation has become so entrenched by now in thinking the government will provide for all our needs from birth to death that it just a given to to rely on it.

The poster child for the greedy entitlement view is Peggy The Moocher. So dubbed in 2008 by Michelle Malkin, it came about that this Obama voter thought she was all set. Peggy "exulted earlier this week at a Barack Obama rally that this was 'the most memorable time of my life.' Why? As she told a Florida reporter on a YouTube video that has been viewed by hundreds of thousands: “Because I never thought this day would ever happen. I won’t have to worry about putting gas in my car. I won’t have to worry about paying my mortgage. You know. If I help [Obama], he’s gonna help me.”"

The government is going to pay for your car and your house?! Reasonable people know this is a ridiculous view to take. More reasonable people know this isn't even something they should want. There was backlash among people who have some self-respect, recoiling at the low level our vaunted American initiative and independence had sunk. When we remove God from the equation, on what or who else do we rely for provision? We always substitute something. In America that substitution has been the government.

Sin always goes lower. Just as there is no limit to the heights Jesus' love for us attains, there are no limits to the depths sin will descend to and evil will sink. When Eve tasted the fruit, she was making a statement that she wanted to rely on herself to engage with the world, and not make decisions through God. When Cain offered God grain instead of meat, he was making a statement that his choice was reliance on self rather than God. It has been that way ever since. But relying on yourself instead of God always goes awry. Always. Here are two recent examples of how much overreliance on something other than God will result in ever-deepening  perversity in thinking about how to obtain provision:

N.C. Man Allegedly Robs Bank of $1 to Get Health Care in Jail
"A 59-year-old man has been jailed in Gastonia, N.C., on charges of larceny after allegedly robbing an RBC Bank for $1 so he could get health care in prison. Richard James Verone handed a female teller a note demanding the money and claiming that he had a gun, according to the police report."

So we go from reliance on God's precepts for life, to reliance on self, to reliance on government (as a substitute for God's provision), and now we're compounding other sins to get what we need and want. Rather than the indirect pain of higher taxes to pay for social security, welfare, and food stamps, people now choose to inflict direct pain on someone so they can get three squares and health care in jail. The incident with Verone was not isolated. This is from today:

"Police say a man robbed a Minneapolis bank with the hopes of being caught."
Minneapolis Police were called to a Wells Fargo Bank on 800 Park Ave. just before 6:30 p.m. on July 7. A bank employee said the robber, Hassan Muse Farah, had walked through the front entrance and gave one of the tellers a threatening hand written note. The teller gave him money from the register. Then Farah, 20, walked over to a chair in the business lobby and sat down to wait until police arrived and he was arrested. Police said Farah waived his Miranda rights, admitted to robbing the bank, and has been charged with second degree aggravated robbery. They say he robbed the bank and waited for them to arrive just so he could be sent to prison or deported."

The gimme mindset leads to all sorts of things. Now, in the case of the man in NC who allegedly robbed the bank for $1, he had a desperate situation he was dealing with:

"As he pointed out to the press, he had lost his job of 17 years as a Coca Cola deliveryman and ended up taking a part-time position in a convenience store. But the work was backbreaking, compounded by the fact that he had arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome and a painful lump on his chest. With no health insurance, he decided that his best option was to rob a bank and get health care in prison."

Once we substitute anything else besides reliance on God for our provision, we not only start to descend into a perverted perspective of needs, wants, and expenses, but we lose hope. Even in these bad economic times, reliance on God shows faith in His ability to take care of His children. I feel so bad for that NC man who had lost his hope, thinking that his only way to get help was to steal from others and bring catastrophe on another human being by threatening her life.

God is above all money, but He takes care of even the smallest, most meager child of His. He knows the hairs on your head, the number of your days, and if He provides for the birds of the field will He not provide even more so for you?

"For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.  If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? (Luke 11:10-13).

What a joy it would be if these people took the conviction they feel that government will take care of them, and replaced it with equal measures of faith in God's providential care! They'd be all set for life, and life hereafter, too.

Comments

  1. It's so sad that we as human beings can take anything that was meant to be good and twist it into something negative.

    There are people, like the disabled, who truly need help, but then people that feel entitled come along and ruin the whole thing.

    Praise God that His provision is perfect in every way, for every person!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment