Not Surprised

​While attending a conference with senior military leaders we were informed that the likelihood of Congress failing to pass a continuing resolution was highly improbable.  Less than three days later the Senate and House failed to agree and we were surprised.  
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Most of my organization’s employees sit at home unable to go to work and are unsure when they will be able to resume their jobs.  For one income folks and families on tight budgets, the forced layoff is angst-producing. One missed paycheck is fraught with second and third order effects. As frustration with our government continues to climb I am taken back to my teenage years living in a third world country ripe with corruption.  Increasingly it feels like we are becoming third world.  But I am not surprised.

Meditation
Proverbs 28:5—Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand everything.
 
Justice is defined in part as: “1. The quality or fact of being just.  2. Ethics b. a particular distribution of benefits and burdens fairly in accordance with a particular conception of what are to count as like cases.”[1]  It may seem judgmental to write that the majority of our nation’s leaders do not understand justice and therefore by implication are evil, but it is really not a hard case to make.  Justice conceptually is founded upon ethical principles and is therefore clearly measurable.

When a nation’s leaders mandate health care for the population but excuse themselves from following its provisions their actions create a privileged class and form a double standard. When elected leaders vote themselves pay raises during steep recessions and gain benefits for life which in most cases are highly disproportionate to their number of years of service, it is not hard to smell hypocrisy.  Righteous leaders don’t talk about taking care of people and the importance of making sacrifices while fattening themselves.  Honorable leaders don’t perfect the art of blame.  

The Bible never endorses government as the answer to our problems and that is one reason why it is banned in so many countries.  No nation has ever succeeded in establishing and maintaining an enduring system of peace and fairness.  Even Israel, when handed laws carved by God in stone, failed to obey His will. Should we be so surprised by the unraveling of our republic? Our problem is we are enamored with broadmindedness. We fancy government as capable of devising a wide range of solutions to life’s challenges.  
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King Solomon tried experimenting with anything that pleased his eyes and found in his rich, spoiled existence that everything was meaningless. The man who had the best brain to govern brilliantly couldn’t even train his sons properly to lead.   The best leaders are always narrow-minded.  They set their hearts on seeking God and resist worldly thinking.  With knowing Him comes understanding.  Make Him Lord and make life work!   Soon it will be a crime to be narrow-minded.  But never fear the story ends well for the focused.  
 
©2013 Daniel York  ARR. Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)
 


[1]http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/justice?s=t