"Let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good. "
Ephesians 4:28
DON'T COUNT ON PHARAOH
Read It: Jeremiah 29:5, 27-28
This passage gives a second principle of God's strategy to transform society: It's transformed when His people develop economic stability. See, the Prophet Hananiah was telling the Jews not to make themselves selves at home, because God was going to rapture them out of Babylon soon (Jeremiah 28:11). But Hananiah was a false prophet, because he was giving the people a false hope. There's nothing false in our hope that Jesus is coming back. But in the meantime, He didn't rapture you to heaven the moment you were saved because He has work for you. At the heart of this work is evangelism, but we're also responsible to make this world the best possible place to live. So Jeremiah told the people to start building and planting because they were going to be there for a while. In other words, "Develop economic independence. Don't depend on the Babylonians to fund your Jewish work. Don't depend on the pagans to provide you the wherewithal to live." It's still a good strategy today. Pagans spend their time and money trying ing to make you like them.
They're not going to fund you to make an impact for Christ upon them. Like it or not, we can't discuss ministry without out discussing economics because ministry costs. God says, "If you are going to pull off My program, you must have economic independence." Let me show you something. In Deuteronomy 28:12, God told Israel that if they would obey Him, they would be a lender to other nations but never a borrower. Reverse that and you see what happened when God's people were disobedient. They became debtors. They were plunged into poverty. They had to depend on pagans for their livelihood. So Jeremiah told the people to cultivate economic stability. That's why at our church in Dallas we have economic development programs, why we teach people skills so that they become employable and not have to depend on the government. I'm not talking about getting rich or building ing your own economic empire. I'm talking about the ability of God's people ple to do His business His way because they are using His resources. Think About It As long as you are working for and dependent upon Pharaoh, he will never let you go.
No Comments