Putting Our Hope in Princes…

“Put not your hope in princes…” Isn’t that what government-run health care is all about? Putting your trust in princes? Expecting the state to look after all your needs?

The crux of the matter I think is that we don’t have a high enough view of God. We want the government to look after us because we don’t trust God to provide for all our needs. (Not only that, but I think in our society needs and wants have gotten pretty mixed up.) In scripture as far as I can tell caring for those in need is the job of individuals and the church.

I’m afraid that government control of healthcare eventually leads to euthanasia. Charity ends up being a burden. People like me (although I would rather not accept government money most programs and resources for the blind are government funded) end up being a drain on the government and it’d rather knock us off than spend money on what some people might consider "unproductive" citizens. Where does something like this stop?

No one stops to consider implications for the future. No, it’s all about now, about us. We’re giving away our freedoms! Selling our birthright for a pot of soup! But that’s what happens in a nation of incredibly self-centered people with an ‘entitlement’ complex looking for instant gratification. We want what we want when we want it at any cost. You know, I think we have an overblown opinion of ourselves, in the US these days, and what we deserve. I know what I deserve and it’s not very pleasant.

We should expect suffering, not ease or comfort. We should strive to follow God, not to gain material wealth, a problem-free life. Problems, suffering, disappointments are what often sanctify us and yet we want to avoid them at any cost. Anything but what would ultimately make me more Christ-like.. We need to get our priorities straight. If god ever gives me children I hope i will not instill in them a desire for the ‘American dream’ but a desire to see God’s ‘kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The other things just aren’t so important as we seem to think and yet we set so much store in them and spend our lives and energy pursuing them.

What does it profit if we gain the whole world and lose our souls?