By Alan Farley
Is the Golden Rule still “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? Or, is it now “Those who have the most gold make the rules”? Is it about power? What would our children say?
Is the role of an elected official to “take care of the individuals living in his, or her, district”? Or, is it to “take care of the individuals who can provide the financial resources needed to keep them in office”? Is it about Power? What would our children say?
Is the purpose of an Indigent Care Hospital to provide quality care for persons who cannot afford health insurance, or hospital expenses? Or, is it to “Create jobs and business opportunities”? Is it about power? What would our children say?
Is the role of a Public School System to “provide a quality education for all the children living in a designated area”? Or, is it to “create jobs and business opportunities”? Is it about power? What would our children say?
I have heard it said that “Knowledge is Power”. I believe most everyone would agree with that statement. But, how do we teach our children the right way to direct the power of knowledge? The first book of the Christian Bible tells the story of the devil tempting Eve with an apple that “he said” would give her the knowledge of God. Wrong!!! (We’re still paying for that one). And yes, that really was about power.
Our prisons are full of men and women who are extremely knowledgeable. However, their knowledge was not properly directed. So, what do we teach our children about direction? There, I said it. What do WE teach our children? We obviously can’t afford to let the world teach our children. We even have to monitor what they watch on “public” television. You see, that old apple story is still being told, and sold, every day. And we stand back and watch that old salesman slither by. His target it our children.
Just look around. Preachers, teachers, elected officials, and successful businessmen, and women, are filling our prisons. These are “educated people” we’re talking about. Don’t get me wrong, education must be a part of the overall equation to acquire success in your lifetime. But, it’s like fire. Fire will cook your food, heat your home, and light your path. However, fire will also burn your house down with you and all of your possessions in it. Knowledge and Fire are a lot alike. It all depends on how you use it.
In the third chapter of the book of 2nd Timothy the apostle Paul is writing a letter to his friend Timothy. (This letter is truly Paul’s last will and testament). In the first five verses Paul writes: “There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, and conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” In today’s society that blanket covers almost everyone.
Two thousand years later, Paul’s words are still true. Today, our apple looks like a dollar bill, a bottle of alcohol, a pill, or whatever the devil knows will make us feel like we are full of knowledge and power. What are our children saying? Look around you and see. That is if you know where they are? It’s time the Godly men in this great nation stand up and acknowledge the truth and power in the knowledge of God. Let’s take those apples and make a pie. Then sit around the table with your family and discuss knowledge and direction. Remember, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)
May God Bless America!!!
