Economical Economic Forecast

[ Back to Article Titles Page ] [ Back to Home Page ]

If you ask any group of people what they foresee happening in the economy, you will surely get a mix of opinions. If you ask those same people what they perceive the economy to be right now, you will also get the same mix of answers. The answer you get from any particular person will depend upon that person's position in the economical scale. It has been said that there are two types of economists and that they are, "Those who don't know" and "Those who don't know they don't know". The truth is that the general state of the economy has never changed. The truth I'm speaking of comes from the only source of real truth, God's own Word.

I call this little article, "An Economical Economic Forecast" because I'm not going to charge you anything for it. Now, I don't claim to be a Larry Burkett or another expert on economics, but I know the One who is and He gave us all the answers in His Word. As I have already stated, the general state of the economy has never changed and Jesus Himself said it never would. He said, "For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good, but me ye have not always." Mark 14:7. Yes, there has always been the poor and there has always been the rich. Although the numbers and names have changed, we have always and always will have the poor and the rich.

The Lord never meant for this unbalance to be, as He was always instructing the rich to give to the poor. I don't believe He ever meant for us to just go out and give everything we have to those who are too lazy to work, because His Word also says he who will not work shall not eat. However, I also don't believe that He ever meant for us to allow our brothers (fellow Christians) and their children to go to bed hungry.

Bigger is not necessarily better. The general theme of the church lately has been toward what they call "the Mega-Church". For some odd reason, the general consensus has been that the church could be more effective by having fewer churches which were larger as opposed to the traditional small country churches. To a large degree in my opinion, this has only worsened the problem of the poor. The bigger churches may indeed be accomplishing more in some areas, but the general economy of the Christian has worsened. The bigger churches do draw crowds and they are very elite crowds which further separates the Christians into their respective classes. That's not what God meant for His church to be.

He doesn't have rich children who don't associate with His poor children. When there were only smaller churches, this segregation was not so rampant as it is today.

When there were a lot of smaller churches, it seems as though the members of those churches stuck together and looked out for each other more. We have gotten away from that trend and people within our own church community are suffering without anyone seeming to care. That is a poor testimony to the world that is looking on. I believe it was Abraham Lincoln who once said, "It's not hard to find men who will give their last drop of blood for their country, but it is very hard to find men who will give their first drop of blood for their country." That is the way Christians are becoming.

There are already those who would give their last drop of blood for the Lord, but it is very difficult to find those who are willing to take that first step and give their first drop of blood for Him. So many are all wrapped up in their own lives that they just can't seem to find the time to help one of their brothers in Christ. They go on the assumption that somebody will do it and it's not getting done.

I heard a little story awhile back that really touched my heart, because it reminded me a lot of my own dear Mother, back when we attended a small country church. I hope I can tell the story just the way I heard it, and that it will better explain what I have been trying to say. I don't know what the title of the story was or even if it had a title, but I will call it, "A Leaf In The Table".

"A Leaf In The Table"

The story begins with a man and his wife and their two children. It seems the Mother of the family was always helping out those she saw in need. If someone they knew was sick, she would take part of what she had prepared for them to eat and carry it to that person. If they had children, she would take them in until they were able to care for them. Now, this family didn't have very much themselves in the way of material things, but the Mother would always say, "The Lord will provide and we'll be alright." Well, the little girl of the family came home from school one day and found her Mother pouring a stew into a big jar and she asked her Mother what she was doing. Her Mother told her that a member of a family from their church was sick and she was preparing part of their food to take over to them. The little girl looked over on the stove and saw that there wasn't a lot of food left and she said, "Mamma, we don't have enough." The Mother assured her that she would add some potatoes to it and make it go further. "The Lord will provide and we'll be alright", she assured her. Then the little boy of the family came home and told his Mother that he had made the ball team. She told him how proud she was of him and that she would try to come and see him play. Well, the little boy said that for him to play he would have to have a catcher's mitt. The Mother told him that they would cut corners and try to get him one. A little later, there was a knock at the door. It was their uncle who informed them that he had lost his job and needed a place to stay until he could get on his feet. The children looked at each other and the little girl said, "There goes the leaf back in the table." The little boy said, "There goes my catcher's mitt." Well, the uncle stayed for about two weeks before he finally found a job. One day the little boy was talking with his Mother and he told her that he was afraid if his uncle didn't soon leave he wouldn't get his catcher's mitt. His Mother simply replied, "The Lord will provide and we'll be alright." Well, that very same evening, the uncle came in from his new job which was a moving business and he had a catcher's mitt with him. He told the boy that he was moving some things for a man and the man told him the catcher's mitt had belonged to his son who had passed away and asked him if he knew of a little boy who might could use it. Later that week the little girl came in and told her Mother of a party the school was having where everybody was suppose to dress formal and that she just had to have a new dress. Well, they moved around their bills and got the girl the dress and she was all prepared for the upcoming party. The next day, the Pastor came and told the lady the Mother of a family who had lost everything in a fire and asked if she could spare some things for the family. He gave her the sizes and information she needed to gather things for them. As she gathered the things, the Lord put it on her heart to include the new dress. Well, when the little girl came home and learned what had happened to her new dress, she was outraged. She told her Mother, "How could you do this? You knew how much I wanted that new dress." The Mother looked at her and said, "It'll be alright, the Lord will provide." Then the next day a package came and it was some material the Mother had been saving a long time for to make some new curtains for the living room. When the little girl came home that day she saw hanging in her Mother's sewing room, the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. The Mother had gone to visit some sick people in the neighborhood, so the little girl asked her brother who that dress was for. He told her that it was for her and that their Mother had taken the material for her new curtains and made it for her. The little girl was so ashamed as she told her brother, "Mother has never asked for anything except that material to make those curtains, why did she do that for me?" The little boy told her, "It's because she loves us more than she loves herself and she really does believe that the Lord will provide and I do too".

Now this little story may sound extreme to some, but that's just what the love of God is all about. In this world which live, in the age of the "Mega-Church", we have sadly lost sight of that love. I was so very blessed this past Friday night to attend a wonderful Christmas play at the school where my children attend and it really blessed my heart. I can call that play wonderful because it truly exalted the name of Jesus. The name of the play was, "The Other Wise Man". It told of a man who had been called of God at the time of Jesus' birth to go and follow Him and to serve Him. The man was very wealthy and had many slaves. Upon his calling, he immediately wrote out a decree that freed all his servants and he not only freed them, but he gave to them all his land except for his most valuable parcel, which he traded for an emerald, a ruby, and a pearl which he kept to take to the new born King to lay at His feet. Well, all along his way to see this new born King, he kept being hindered. He first came across a man who had been beaten and left to die. He fed that man and gave him water and was going to leave him to go see his new King. Well, the man begged him to stay with him to protect him overnight until he could travel. He so wanted to leave so that he could go see Jesus, but something inside him made him to stay. Before he parted company with the man, the man told him that he would surely perish with no means of buying food. Again, something inside him led him to give the man the ruby from his sack. Well, he finally made it to Bethlehem where the baby Jesus was born and as he entered into a house to inquire of the whereabouts of the Christ child, he learned that he was too late, that Joseph and Mary had taken the child and had gone to be taxed. While in the house, the Roman soldiers came and as one of them beat in the door, he saw the little baby boy the couple had there and was about to kill it. Again, something inside this man led him to bribe the Roman soldiers into not killing the child and he gave them the emerald from his sack in exchange for the child's life. Now all he had left to offer his new King was the pearl and he headed out to follow after Him. He followed the trail of Jesus for over thirty years, always being hindered by someone in need. Finally, he came so near to Him and learned that they had hung Him on a cross that very day. A lady who informed him of this fate of Jesus begged him for the pearl to buy her freedom. He told her that he must go to lay it at his Saviour's feet. Then as the sky became darkened and the earth began to quake, the man who was very old by now, fell to the ground in his weakness. Again, something inside him led him to give the pearl to that lady. And as he lay there dying, he saw Jesus who told him, "For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me". Matthew 25:35-36.

Now friends, that is the true definition of religion. Wouldn't those be wonderful words to hear our Lord say when this life is over? There are so many people from the "Mega-Churches" on down, who are doing so many things in the name of religion and yet they are missing it all together. Religion is not some organization, nor is it some group. Religion, true religion, is a one on one personal service we do as children of God for Him. Nothing more and nothing less. That something I kept mentioning in the previous story that kept leading that man to give to others that which he had reserved for Christ was the love of God inside him. It was not his position as a Priest. It was not his standing as a religious leader. It was not an organization he was a proud member of. Folks, I am a member of a Baptist Church and a very good one I might add, but I am not a Southern Baptist. That has no affect on my salvation. I am also not an Independant Baptist, for there are a lot of, an awful lot of both of these who are going to die and spend eternity in hell. I am a Baptist, but I am a Dependant Baptist. This is a Baptist who is dependant solely upon the shed blood of Jesus Christ and nothing else to save him. With that shed blood, we will want to serve Him and that alone can be called religion.