I made it back to the farm yesterday and just chilled out for the day. Our house is a mess, and I will need to spend a big portion of it cleaning up and unpacking. I’m happy there are a few football games on but sad to see the season coming to a close. I’m hoping the undefeated Georgia Bulldogs stay undefeated and can win another national championship, but we have a tough game Saturday night with Ohio State and if we make it beyond that obstacle, we have to play another tough team, probably Michigan. I suppose with all the suffering and life and death struggles going on in the world, my concerns are myopic and 1st world problems that pale into insignificance against the world’s misery index.
I read this morning that billions of dollars of new taxes will soon take effect. It seems that folks are having a difficult enough time with inflation as it is without adding higher taxes to the mix. I read the Democrats are even going to tax retirement nest eggs like 401K and unbelievably energy will see an increase in taxes. So much for Biden’s promise of only adding new taxes to rich billionaires.
It would not be so bad if our hard-earned tax money was being spent wisely, but it is being squandered and heaped upon special interest groups, including some with the nuttiest programs I could ever imagine. It is nauseating to work so hard to make a living only to have some politicians give it to some lazy clown who refuses to work or to some ridiculous project. They punish the hard workers and reward the grifters and “psychos”.
Even a cursory reading of the Bible enlightens us to the fact that unreasonable taxes and hated tax collectors have always been around. I watch my three sons work from the crack of dawn until dark under tremendous stress and cringe when I think how it makes them feel to see so much of their hard-earned money go down the government’s gilded toilet. As I think about it, it was no different than when I was building my career, and I’m sure those who lived in ancient times.
I know my take on our current situation may sound cynical to some, but I believe it is factual, and sadly I don’t see it ever changing until Jesus returns. As long as we live on this planet there will be politicians who want to empty our pockets and fill theirs. One day Jesus will return to rule the world Himself and He will be a fair and a righteous judge. Corruption will end. And I imagine the Apostle Paul’s words in 2 Thess. 3:10 will be enforced: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.“
So, there is no need to be discouraged because there is great hope for justice in Him right around the bend.
Jesus paid His taxes and when He was asked why he hung out with despised tax collectors, He told parables about them, comparing them to lost sheep. The moral of that parable is that He loves us all as we should also love others. Nonetheless, He was not advocating the corrupt system that existed, and gave the corrupt tax collectors the following stern advice:
Luke 3:13
And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.”
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday!