Lessons in Economics.

1.) Did you know that when people lie, cheat, steal, and walk away from their responsibilities...it hurts the economy! No...really, it's true! When people do dishonest things someone has to pay the price. There is not this "black hole" that dishonesty fades away into where no one gets hurt. REAL people lose their jobs & REAL consequences are paid when corruption takes place. I know this is a huge shocker to a lot of people, but it's actually true. I think it's downright sad that we live in a society that is so self-centered that we creatively justify our "wants" and sell them to everyone as "needs".

I debated whether or not to open this can of worms on my blog, but I decided to let it all out today because I'm frustrated. You see, my father has been unemployed for 6 months, and my husband may be headed there too since he works for a financial institution that is limping along in these tough times. I get FURIOUS when I hear people talk about what the government OWES them! I don't believe I DESERVE anything! In fact, I probably don't even deserve what I DO have, but you can bet your butt I'm thankful for it.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about contentment lately, and I've come to the conclusion that I need to spend some more time aligning my heart with what God really wants for me. You see, I don't really believe God WANTS me to have a bigger house, a better car, fancier clothes, or more crap. I don't think God cares about stuff. You know why...it's just STUFF! "Stuff" doesn't teach me anything, or bring me closer to God. Honestly, what very well may draw me closer to God is my ability to not see Him as a fairy godmother with a magical wand. I think we put the "Magical Fairy Godmother" frame around God all the time. We pray for God to "bless us" (with His almighty magic wand), and then we somehow find a way to accumulate whatever it is we want & then we say "Look...God blessed me". In reality, we just did whatever we wanted and made sure to say we prayed about it and got God's stamp of approval.

Have I ever asked God for something? Sure! Do I think God does sometimes provide "stuff" as an answer to prayer? Sure! But, I don't think that should be the focus of our relationship with the creator of the universe and savior of our souls. Do you feel me? I guess I'm just bothered by the ever increasing "prosperity gospel" that I'm hearing all around me. There is so much of that sort of thing going on that it's making me say "back the truck up" when I hear what some people think God wants them to have. Call me crazy, but I don't think God is in the "genie in a bottle" business. I don't think just because we make a wish God wants us to have it!

If all we ever do is ask God for things, then what does that say about us? To be honest, if you study the Bible real closely I believe it says we all deserve DEATH! But, because God loved us he saved us so that we may have life with Him. Never anywhere in the Bible does it say that God want us to have a bigger house, 4 cars, a boat, a beach house, and a $10,000 shopping spree in New York. When the Bible say "life abundantly"...it DOES NOT MEAN you get an abundance of STUFF! What we deserve is death...just remember that the next time you are tempted to whine at God about your crappy little overstuffed house that isn't big enough for you and your 4 kids (yes, I'm talking to MYSELF here!).

Oh, and just remember there is no "bailout" clause written in the Bible either. If you make the choice to buy a bunch of crap you can't afford, then you should probably make a plan to pay for it too. I mean, you could always pray that God will wave His magic wand over your finances & dismiss all your debt (hey, it worked for AIG)...but I think I would stick with the "find a way to pay back my debts" plan. Yeah, you could probably find a verse or two in the Bible to support that idea ;-).