Today I read John 6 which tells the story of Jesus feeding the multitude of 5000 men from only 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fishes. However, John doesn't just stop there but continues the story where the other writers of the Gospels leave off. It got me thinking about recent events back in 2007 and 2008, which I'll get to in just a minute. The basis of the story is that Jesus feeds the multitude, then His disciples leave without Him and He joins them later by walking on the water. Later the multitude wake up and find that Jesus is gone and track Him down. The rest of the chapter is Jesus teaching the members of the multitude that tracked Him down.
At the beginning of the part where the multitude tracks down Jesus, He rebukes them saying that they didn't find Him because they believed on Him, but rather because He fed the multitude food. This part got me thinking about some things that happened a few years back. A few years ago the welfare system was getting a little out of control and some people didn't like it, mainly the ones doing all the paying into the system, or the middle class. One of the arguments those who were either on welfare or thought we should just give and give and give without question used to try and guilt everyone else into doing the same, was that Jesus gave to those in need without question. Clearly, that is not the case as we can see here in this chapter.
I find it very funny that those who do not believe in God or religion are very quick to try and use it to strong arm others into doing as they wish. The fact of the matter is, yes, we do need to help those in need, but it is a voluntary system and no one should ever be coerced into doing something they don't want to do. There are a few exceptions such as school for children but for the most part, assisting in charity work and helping those in need, while noble pursuits, needs to be done by those who want to help. I personally have a real problem with the health care system that President Obama has shoved down our throats. Yes, I agree that health insurance is way out of hand, but in my opinion it is because there are so many erroneous malpractice lawsuits. I feel that if you really want to make a dent in health insurance premiums, make it MUCH harder to sue a doctor or hospital or other medical entity for malpractice. That will lower the doctor's insurance premiums and so they will lower their rates, which means it will cost less to go to the doctor which means that health insurance will not need to charge as much. I have a real problem with the way our legal system, particularly the part dealing with litigation, works in this country. I find it ridiculous that we reward people that hurt themselves and then punish a company for not warning that person about it because it was common sense.
But I am getting off topic. Jesus took the opportunity to teach those who sought Him out looking for more free food about the Gospel. Many did not accept it and even many of His own disciples stopped following Him at that point. Now, I have no problem with giving someone all they need to survive and even raising my taxes to do it, if it were contingent on them joining a Christian religion, I don't even care which denomination, and making them adhere to its tenants strictly and the moment they stop following the basic 10 commandments they stop getting the assistance. Because that would weed out all but about 10% of those seeking assistance.
Now, in the chapter, Jesus again used a parable so that those who were not ready to receive His doctrine would not be held accountable for it. He referred to Himself as the bread of life and whosoever partook of His flesh would not perish. The people did not understand at all and tried to bring the conversation back to where they wanted it, free food. They mentioned that Moses gave their ancestors manna from heaven, what was Jesus going to provide them? Jesus then reminded them that Moses did no such thing, it was God, Heavenly Father, who caused manna to rain down from heaven, not Moses. Moses was indeed a great prophet, but it was God who provided the miraculous food for the Israelites for 40 years. The Israelites were making the mistake a lot of people make, they were attributing the work done by the tool, to the tool instead of the hand that wielded the tool. Yes, prophets are the physical outlet before the people who work the miracles. But it is the priesthood, or the ability to act in God's name, that make the miracle happen.
I don't think that there are very many Latter-day Saints that would fall into this category of only coming to church for a free handout, but there are some I am sure. But if such is the case, what they really need is spiritual food. They need the Gospel of Jesus Christ to uplift and strengthen them so that their spirits are bolstered and they can provide for their family. It never ceases to amaze me how many people need work, and yet turn their nose up at perfectly good jobs because it is "beneath" them. Such is the danger of pride. We should never let our own pride get in the way of providing the necessities of life for our family. But I firmly believe that if we get our lives in order spiritually first, then the rest will all fall into place. I have seen it over and over again in my life and we hear about it several times each year in General Conference. As we get our personal lives in order with God and His doctrine, everything else just falls into place. That is not to say we won't have challenges and trials, but we will be able to overcome them with His help. I promise! Until tomorrow.
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