All things come from God. Even the things that we think are ours, or that we have worked so hard for. This is because this is God's world, He created it, and we are in it. We were also created by God. The sin of the Devil, who originally was the most beautiful of all of God's angels, was that he attempted to be equal to God. And that is why he was cast down to the earth. And when we try to become equal to God, or think we do not need God, or we become our own Gods, we are guilty of the same sin as the Devil.
We all know people who are very wealthy and very fortunate. Some of those people have worked hard to get where they are, some of them have inherited their fortune, and some of them have come by their fortune through dishonest means, by climbing to the top, and stabbing their best friends in the back. However they got it though, the same thing holds true. According to God, " To whom much is Given, much is Required."
Something that most people don't know is that God is the one who actually decides who is blessed with great fortune. And the Bible states that He expects more from those whom he has blessed with great riches. In other words, they are to use the money wisely and not squander it or spend it only on themselves.
There are many celebrities in our world who are financially secure several times over, but who do not spend what they have wisely. They essentially spend it on themselves, or material things, etc. while 3/4's of the world's population is starving. Their priorities become completely corrupt so that they think nothing of spending $15,000 for a pair of sun glasses, or a dinner out, etc. What do you think God thinks of that? God told us to share what we have, to not store up for ourselves our riches, and hoard it for a rainy day. He told us to "give to the poor" and to help all that come our way.
Then there are those rich and famous who DO know how to use their money wisely. Danny Thomas and his hospital St. Jude comes to mind. A hospital which he founded years ago to help children with cancer. He chose to do the right thing with his good fortune. But God's command to us to use our money wisely does not only refer to celebrities.
To Whom Much Is Given, much Is Required is for the average Joe also. God expects us to help His cause on this earth, to help the poor, and to help anyone who needs it. In fact, many times He sends people our way specifically because he knows that we are able and capable of helping them, and He is giving us an opportunity to do so. But we have "free will" and just like in everything else, we have the freedom to help out, or to refuse.
So, the moral of this story is if you are reading this and God has blessed you with great riches, then much is required of you.
I feel that this also includes nations. It is not an accident that the United States is the richest nation on earth. It is a blessing directly from God. And so much is required of us as a nation. Which is why I do not feel that our attempting to help other, less fortunate nations is wrong. To hear some people. you would think that we should build a moat around our country with high walls, and never ever venture out or let others venture in.
In four hundred years we have become the most advanced, and the most blessed nation on earth. And when our leaders listen to God, they tend to want to reach out to the rest of the world and share what we have. We are the first usually of all the nations to offer assistance, both materially and financially when another nation is facing a crisis. Whether it be of starvation, or mass murder of it's citizens by it's own government, very rarely will America sit there and look the other way. If we had not stepped in to stop Hitler, millions of more Jewish people would have been slaughtered, and Germany would have taken over the world, with the help of Japan.
Which is why, sometimes you have to drop a bomb and kill thousands to save millions as we did in Hiroshima. In the Old Testament, God ordered the Israelites to go in and "lay waste" the pagan nations surrounding Jerusalem because he knew that their evil practices would destroy Israel and if left unchecked would eventually destroy the world. These were called " Wars of Justification. "
God expects more of nations who have been given more by Him. So when we went into Iraq to stop the slaughter of millions of men, women and children by Sudam Hussein, we were doing the right thing. Whether they had weapons of mass destruction or not is not really the point. The point is, God expects allot from the United States because HE has given us allot and has entrusted us to use and act wisely with what He has given us.
Have you ever wondered why it only takes one rotten potato to turn an entire bag of good potatoes rotten? Wouldn't logic dictate that the many good potatoes would turn the one rotten potato good? But it does not work that way. Another example is the fact that one tiny candle of light can light up an entire dark room. There is more darkness in that room then there is light, but the darkness cannot extinguish the light.
There are those who think President Bush was a lunatic because he stated that he felt called by God to lead this nation, at this time. He is correct. God says in the Bible that he chooses the leaders of nations. So I have no trouble believing that God was speaking to President Bush. But in the same token God actually allows bad rulers to rule a nation because that nation needs to learn a few lessons. And I believe that President Clinton fit the bill and we learned some lessons. We learned that character and morality in the White House count.
Why is it so hard to believe that God guides the leader of the most powerful and rich nation in the world? God spoke to Moses and King David, and all the great prophets in the Bible and he has led leaders of nations since the beginning of time. Why not now? Especially when we need it the most, when we are in the greatest danger from terrorism that this world has ever faced. When we are in danger of the entire earth becoming extinct.
So far, it appears that our current President is not listening to God, does not even believe that the United States is a Christian nation, has no problem surrounding himself with radical communists, and is apologizing to the rest of the world for the United States. He is making friends with the leaders of Communists nations, like Cuba and Venezuela, and ignoring Israel, God's chosen people and the very nation that the United States has always been it's greatest supporter in the past.
What do you think God thinks of Barack Obama? He needs to be impeached and his entire 31 czars and cabinet removed. If we as a nation do not stand up for God, He will remove His Blessings and protection from the United States.
The real danger is that when a nation kicks God out of it's country, that country falls. We have already kicked prayer out of schools, etc. and other trends. We allow homosexuals to be ministers, which God calls an abomination over and over again in the Bible, and the more we disregard God, the more He will disregard us. God is perfectly able to withdraw the blessings that He has bestowed on the United States.
So, in conclusion ...... "To whom much is given, much is required" whether it is to people or to nations, the command means the same.
Patricia Jones, M.A.
