The Rich Are Getting Richer

Good day to each of you reading this article and a subject that each of are very familiar with in our daily activities.

Since we are getting much closer to Christmas, here is some humor –Jewish Christmas—

The teacher asked young Patrick Murphy: “What do you do at Christmas time?”

Patrick addressed the class: “Well Ms. Jones, me and my twelve brothers and sisters go to midnight mass and we sing hymns; then we come very late and we put mince pies by the back door and hang up our stockings. Then all excited, we go to bed and wait for Father Christmas to come with all our toys.

“Very nice Patrick, “she said. “Now Jimmy Brown, what do you do for Christmas?”

Well, Ms. Jones, me and my sister also go to church with Mom and Dad and we sing carols and we get home ever so late. We put cookies and milk by the chimney and we hang up our stockings. We hardly sleep, waiting for Santa Claus to bring our presents.

Realizing there was a Jewish boy in the class and not wanting to leave him out of the discussion, she asked, “Now, Isaac Cohen, what do you do at Christmas?”

Isaac said, “Well, it’s the same thing every year… Dad comes home from the office. We all pile into the Rolls Royce; then we drive to Dad’s toy factory. When we get inside, we look at all the empty shelves… And begin to sing: “What a friend we have in Jesus”. Then we all go the Bahamas.”

Turn to James 5: 1-6 (NIV) Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages that you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

As a dual reference, turn to Deuteronomy 24:14-15 (NIV) Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns.  Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

My wife read me an article about a major food plant who suspended managers at a pork plant who placed bets on how many workers would get the COVID virus.

Yes, you heard that right—This article goes on to say, the managers avoided the plant floor while denying the existence of “confirmed cases” at the plant to workers. One manager reported that he likened COVID-19 to a “glorified flu.”

And the kicker—In April, according to the suit, the plant manager allegedly began organizing the “winner take all” betting ring among managers and supervisors over how many employees would fall ill to COVID-19.

This is just one example of today’s time and why God cannot bless America. As an employer, my wife and I have put ourselves in the employee’s shoes for we were once both employees.

On the subject of wealth in the Bible, wealth is to be used for good purposes and for the good of mankind, not hoarded and the destruction of those given wealth.

Here, in the U.S.A., we are blessed with the opportunity to become financially independent if we follow God’s laws. The success has never begun with us but with God and the blessing or talent comes from God.

The question then becomes if the rich were given the talent of riches from God, then, is the wealth being used for good purposes for is it being hoarded.

Are you burying or hoarding your riches or are you sharing or spreading your wealth for the good of mankind? And, how do you treat your employees who built your company? Do you withhold from the poor? Do you “give less” and “ask for more”? Are you more interested in “the bottom line” than for the employee?

As a Christian employer, I have learned to put my money into people and product- Employees, are our greatest asset, and can either make or break a company.

God provides talents and tests to you and I as Christians in order to prepare us for the kingdom for their will be much work to do. God did not make up the Ten Commandments for fun, for he added to love they neighbor as thyself.

I refer to the Wycliffe Bible Commentary, the apocryphal Ecclesiasticus 34: 21,22: “The bread of the needy is the life of the poor; whoever deprives them of it is a man of blood. To take away a neighbor’s living is to murder him; to deprive an employee of his wages is to shed blood.” 

The result: Despite all of this mistreatment, the poor do not resist.

As for the judgment of the Unscrupulous rich, Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire.

Two things I have learned, I never saw a Brinks truck loading up riches from the dead person for he knew he could not take them with him and to Do unto others as you would have them do unto you or as my wife says—Be Nice!