Where do you draw the line between common sense and faith in Christ, where do you see your part in the life that you live as important and necessary compared to what the Scriptures say. Let us use the example of health insurance, for it is a seemingly major concern for the world and those who live for it, for nearly every nation brings the subject up on a regular basis.
When we look at any subject, it is wise to see it in its totality, foolish people are easily led astray by those who are wise in the ways of the world, but these worldly wise men are fools themselves, for they do not realize the master they serve. The root initiative for health insurance is not the well-being of the individual that is in need of medical assistance, it is in place so that those who provide the services will be paid for their efforts. Those who have set themselves to be caretakers of the ill and infirmed are due a wage for those services, “The labourer is worthy of his reward.” (1 Tim. 5:18) The majority of people on this planet do not have the financial wherewithal to pay for many of these services, and so they hand the risk takers, the insurance companies, large sums of money, hedging their bets, it is called in the gambling locations of the world.
The reason is quite simple of course, if a catastrophic illness arrives, these same institutions will remove cash from those who do not have the ability to pay their owed dues for services provided all that the person has. Care comes with a cost, if you cannot pay your bill, they will garnish your wages, they will remove funds from your bank accounts, they will take any retirement you have saved, they can, and many times will do all this and more. You will be left destitute, but healthy. The answer of course for the masses is health insurance, along with the stipulations that fill every page of the contract that you sign with them. My friends, the largest corporations on the planet did not get that way because they cut corners, they are for the most part, of the world and for the world, and money is one of the greatest keys to power on this planet.
Here is the conversation of this letter to you today then, when is our common sense, the logical, deductive reasoning skills that are given to us by the Lord God in conflict with the complete and total faith we are to have in Jesus Christ. The subject of health and the possibility to have health insurance is simply a subset to this question, I could have just as easily been led to use the topic of your employment field compared to the Lord’s provisions, the type of lifestyle you have set upon yourself, any number of items, but the question remains, where does common sense end and faith begin. Common sense told Peter and the others they might as well go back to fishing, (John 21:3) common sense said that water could not be found in the desert, (Exo. 17:6) common sense says that water does not fall from the sky, never has, never will, (Heb. 11:7) common sense says, “If I don’t do this, there may be negative consequences.”
This is an extremely difficult subject for many who profess Christ as Lord, I have not met one yet who desires to die a pauper on the street, most feel comfortable hedging their bets. Faith in Jesus Christ says I will trust that you are leading me where thou wouldest have me to go, it asks from the depths of its heart for strength and conviction to follow that leading. Health insurance was unheard of just a few short decades ago, but so were cell phones, and now the populace of the planet has determined them both not to be a privilege, but a right, they are needed, and what we need we believe we deserve. The “No-gray in the middle,” the “Thus saith the Lord” Christians sees truth in the words of the Scriptures, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19) The truth of “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matt. 6:34)
They are not just suggestions that are to be balanced with the cares and concerns of this life, if the Lord wants you to be sick, you will be sick, and if from that sickness comes poverty in the world, then that is where He wants you. Not the calm and reassuring words you will hear from the majority of pulpits around the world today, is it, we pray for healing, not suffering, we hedge our bets against the will of God in our lives. This is not just the path that the prosperity theologist would have us traverse today, it has become mainstream even in what was once considered the evangelical churches, if you are sick, go to the doctor, not to prayer, make sure to take your insurance card. Faith questions this my friends, just because something is offered by the world, an item that holds within its boundaries common sense, is it something that the born-again believer should search out and obtain. When is common sense a lack of faith.
A short hospital stay can run in to tens of thousands in cash, faith says “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Prov. 3:5-6) Insurance companies claim security in their product, the Scriptures tell us that “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” (Isaiah 26:3) The world say to hedge your bets, use your common sense, the Word of God says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33) “Yea, hath God said.” (Gen. 3:1) Still works perfectly well with those who inhabit this planet, why quit what works?
My responsibility is not to coerce, it is to inform, I place none of my own thoughts in these letters, I write as I am commanded to write, it is the Word of God alone that convicts. Common sense and faith are like two brothers who are constantly at odds with each other, the peace that passeth all understanding (Phil. 4:7) is shown by only one of them, you will not find it in the world. Many of you are thinking to yourself right now, “He’s right, I should trust and obey,” but your very next thought will be “But what about….” Which one came from faith, and which one came from common sense.
