The Costs of Living, 2012

There is a price to be paid for everything.  If you live, the ultimate price to be paid is your life!  But before you die, you can expect to pay other costs.  These days most Americans are thinking about the prices they have to pay for everyday items; like food.  It seems that every time you go to the grocery store, they have raised the prices!  I'm not saying that all the grocery stores are gouging us and fleecing the poor sheep; but it seems out of place to raise the prices so often.  The excuse is made that the costs have gone up for the farmers to produce the food, or the fuel costs have gone up to bring the food to the market.  But it really goes beyond that.  The cause is at least two-fold.

We have become too dependant upon our economic system for one thing.  We have become too apathetic to just allow our government to gain full control and make too many decisions for us.  And secondly, we have put our trust in man to provide us what we should be trusting God to provide.  In the United States, the economic system was created by a bureaucratic governmental mandate which allowed, "The Federal Reserve Banking System" to detirmine the value of our currency.  It is neither, "Federal" (implying that it is part of the Federal Government) nor is it a "Reserve" (they aren't holding our money for us - they are taking it from us!).  Basically, it is actually illegal, but the scam was swallowed by the ignorance of the citizens.

When I first made my way into the work force, the "so-called" minimum wage was somewhere around $2 per hour.  And I had to work pretty hard to earn that!  But now, the minimum wage is so high that almost nobody can afford to hire workers!  Add in all the governmental regulations and you've got a system that is broken!

But, as I said, the problem is two-fold.  If you would understand that you should be looking to God to provide your needs in the first place, then whatever the government decides wouldn't matter quite so much!  Go read your Bible, in the 6th chapter of the book of Matthew!  We should be "God Dependant", not "man" dependant!  (see also: Proverbs 3: 5,6)

What are we going to do if our economic system goes bust altogether?  Should we all just roll over and die?  The Bible suggests that we should be prepared for trouble, when we see it coming.  And I'm not just talking about having a stockpile of goods on hand!  We should be prepared for a collapse of the whole world's economic system.  It's coming, whether we like it or not - the prophetic Word of God has told us!  But God has a way to escape the collapse and not be harmed.  It is a simple plan - just trust completely in Him!  He promised to provide our every need!

The economic system that the world wants us to join in on, is doomed!  Oh, there will come someone who will come up with a solution.  But his solution will be that we give him all authority to do as he pleases.  Then he will demand total obedience and worship.  If you trust in God, you'll find that He doesn't demand our obedience, He just leaves it up to us.  And He doesn't have some ulterior motive - He just gives His love and hopes that we will return it to Him.  In the end, His love and our trust will win out and we will all live in harmony, with no concerns of the costs of living.  But until then, we'll have to make proper decisions, based on direction given in His Word.

I thought it would be interesting to see some of the progression of the cost of living; especially for those who didn't live through those times.  So here are some newspaper advertisements for food stores - one from the 1940's, another from the 1950's and lastly from the 1970's.  You can compare them with what we see today.  I just wonder how long people will put up with all these raises in the cost of living.  Maybe they will never make any change to it!  There are consequences!  Do you think, maybe we're living too high on the hog?  What is really important?  Things are pretty bad when they have us at each other's throats, fighting some supposed class warfare!

I realized that people needed a break and they have a basic need to be a little self-indulgent when all the weight of the economy is bringing them down; so I opened up my little shop, providing inexpensive souvenirs and candies.  While some large stores make their customers buy a big bag of candy, (probably more than they wanted in the first place) I provide individual servings, thus saving them the high costs.   (And I won't be raising my prices all year!) If you are in the area when my shop is open, please stop in and see for yourself! *(Check my web site for business hours - spring through fall)  Here's the deal: if I provide something that you want to purchase, I'll serve it to you personally - not just take your money!  I'm in business to make folks happy, not rob them blind!  And all my merchandise is made in America!  Let's work together to keep America, "The Land of Opportunity" & return it to its glory!

"We are too much like the woman who boycotted eggs because they were too high and then, without a protest, paid $36 for a pair of low shoes... It is so easy to throw away with one hand what we save with the other."  Laura Inalls Wilder
(Wow, $36 for a pair of shoes - those were "The Good Old Days"!) The Old Man in the Bib Overalls