“Obedience Brings Blessing!”

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© 2012 Don Pinson  /  To Download, right-click here: [Download]  / 

One of the most encouraging things to happen in many years happened this week in Wisconsin.  Governor Scott Walker, the son of a minister, has been working since taking office to get the state out of a deficit of a billion plus dollars.  To bring about the cuts in government spending to do that, he pushed through the Legislature a law that stopped the ability of state workers to bargain for higher wages through collective bargaining.  While many protested, he stuck to his guns and signed the bill into law.  It now appears that the whole billion plus debt the state owes will be gone by the end of this budget cycle—plus there should be a $150 million dollar surplus!

However, those who believe government should be a supplier of needs instead of being only a protector of God-given rights gathered petitions to demand a recall vote.  That vote occurred this week.  And while many predicted it would be a “razor-thin margin” for the winner, Walker beat his challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, by seven percentage points!  It was a huge victory margin considering this particular race.  Even political “big guns” like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama came into the campaign the last few days to try to push Barrett over the top; but they failed miserably.

One of the most interesting factors of this whole campaign was the amount of money Walker raised—and how he raised it.  In his original election campaign two years ago, Walker raised about $11 million dollars.  But in this recall campaign he raised a whopping $31 million!  But most interesting was that the larger part of the money was raised outside of Wisconsin.  Members of the National Rifle Association and others gave generously into his campaign.

We can learn some valuable lessons from this election:  Number one, it should be obvious that God’s way works in government.  The Bible teaches that we should, “Owe no man anything but to love him.”  Our governments should live the same way.  “No debt!” should be the war cry in this election year of those who want to preserve our liberty.  Scott Walker has proven that God’s method works in this world when people have the courage to stand on His truth!  Matthew 6:33 teaches that those who “seek…first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…” have added to them everything they need in this world.

This election also teaches us that we who think closer to Biblical standards must work together if we expect to turn our nation around.  The fact that Walker tried to pull support from conservatives across the nation and could not have won without others’ help, shows us the power of the Biblical principle that

“… five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you…”

(Leviticus 26:8)

Walker’s bold stand to break the collective bargaining stronghold, and being willing to loose all to do it, is the kind of courage and boldness we must have in this hour.  Republicans and others in government should quit worrying about appealing to the “middle of the roaders” and do what the Bible teaches.  This would bring the blessing of God in fixing this confused nation!  We desperately need people like Patrick Henry who stand and cry,

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?  Forbid it Almighty God!  I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

(Henry, Patrick. March 23, 1775, in The Second Virginia Convention given at St. John’s Church in Richmond Virginia. The Annals of America, 20 vols. (Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1968), Vol. 2, pp. 322-333. Peter Marshall and David Manual, The Light and the Glory (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming Revell Co., 1977), p. 269.)

 Do you love the liberty produced by the Lord Jesus more than life?  If you don’t—
are you worthy of that liberty?

Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you—
and for your children!  And you won’t like what that brings to you.  I’m Don Pinson this has been Think About It.