The REAL solution

American politicians are trying hard to restore stability to our financial markets, but it appears that their efforts are not working. Yesterday, the stock market tanked again making the largest one day percentage drop ever. In the Presidential debates, Senators Obama and McCain promised to make the crisis better, offering up lower taxes and new government programs. In reality, our money crisis grows from spiritual bankruptcy and the only real and lasting solution will involve a major shift in values among the American people. We are addicted to big government and big spending- each of us wanting cuts for the 'other guy' while preserving our benefits. A call to saving and sacrifice sounds good - just as long as it doesn't touch whatever government program makes my life easier!

In the ancient book of Deuteronomy, there is a description of Israel that fits America today. See if you agree.
"I will proclaim the name of the Lord; how glorious is our God! He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!
“But (Israel has) acted corruptly toward him; when they act so perversely, are they really his children? They are a deceitful and twisted generation. Is this the way you repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Isn’t he your Father who created you? Has he not made you and established you? . . .
“For the people of Israel belong to the Lord; Jacob is his special possession. He found them in a desert land, in an empty, howling wasteland. He surrounded them and watched over them; he guarded them as he would guard his own eyes. . . . The Lord alone guided them; they followed no foreign gods. He let them ride over the highlands and feast on the crops of the fields. He nourished them with honey from the rock and olive oil from the stony ground. . . . He gave them choice rams from Bashan, and goats, together with the choicest wheat. You drank the finest wine, made from the juice of grapes.

“But Israel soon became fat and unruly; the people grew heavy, plump, and stuffed! Then they abandoned the God who had made them; they made light of the Rock of their salvation. . . . They offered sacrifices to demons, which are not God, to gods they had not known before, to new gods only recently arrived, to gods their ancestors had never feared. You neglected the Rock who had fathered you; you forgot the God who had given you birth." (Deuteronomy 32:3-18, NLT)

I am not suggesting that America is modern Israel or that we should be a theocracy! But, history is abundantly clear that America has enjoyed an amazing and privileged place among the nations. God blessed us with rich resources, with a system of government that revered individual rights and liberties, that rested on an understanding of responsibility, thrift, and hard work. Since the Second World War, as our prosperity increased greatly, we made idols of our wealth and became slaves of our possessions. We demanded 'more' even as we grew fat in every way. Instead of working hard to build wealth, we believed the lie that we could borrow and spend our way to greater riches! (This deception blinded individuals and government alike.) Anyone who suggested that we should be content, or that we should limit consumption, or that we should practice restraint; was dismissed, ignored, or ridiculed. Our sense of entitlement extended to the government and vast, expensive programs were created to serve our demands - coddling us from our birth to our grave. We paid no attention to the cost of such programs, though a few lonely voices warned that massive socialism would rob us of prosperity. Finally the bubble burst and it appears that we are just beginning to understand the cost of robbing future generations to feed ourselves!

Even the growing edge of the American Church adopted the "big is better, more is good, and 'serve me'" philosophy that emerged forty years ago. The call to service was replaced with "God loves you and wants you to have a rich and wonderful life," message that left sins unchallenged. Preachers set aside the call of Jesus to 'love God and others more than self,' and preached a half-true gospel of individual fulfillment and unlimited access to God's blessings.

The real solution to America's crisis is a return to the God who blessed us, a renewal of our understanding of His ways, and a submission to His will. It won't get better in a month, a year, perhaps even a decade! But, if we learn again
that He is our true Wealth,
that diligent work is noble and God-honoring,
that contentment is a sign of spiritual health,
that sharing with those who are truly in need reveals a godly heart, and
that assuring justice for rich and more alike is demanded of us by the One who will call us all to stand before His Judgment Seat:

America will once again rest on a solid foundation.
__________________

O God, our Help in ages past,
Our Hope for years to come,
Our Shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal Home!

Under the shadow of Thy throne
Still may we dwell secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure.

O God, our Help in ages past,
Our Hope for years to come,
Be Thou my Guide while life shall last,
And our eternal Home.

O God Our Help In Ages Past
Isaac Watts © Public Domain