A  farmer went to his banker and announced that he had good news and bad news. “Well,” said the farmer, “the bad news is that I can’t make my mortgage payments; and that crop loan I’ve taken out for the past 10 years—I can’t pay that off, either.

Not only that, I won’t be able to pay you the couple of hundred thousand that I owe on my tractors and other equipment. So I’m going to have to give up the farm and turn it all over to you for whatever you can salvage out of it.” Silence prevailed for a minute and then the banker said, “Well, what’s the good news?” “The good news is that I’m going to keep on banking with you,” said the farmer.

These days, we cannot watch a news program without hearing about record numbers of unemployment. There are people who really want to work but can’t find jobs.

It is obvious that one of the main reasons that people work is to acquire finances in order to take care of their families.

Yet, there remains a greater reason why we desire and need jobs. God always intended for us to work. The first thing God did for Adam in the garden was to give him a job!

Work was given to him as a gift from God.

Part of God’s plan and purpose for our lives is to work because in working we find true meaning of who we are.

Work gives us the opportunity to share who we are with the world. We have gifts, skills, and talents that must be shared with others.

Not sharing those gifts causes all of us to go lacking.

Work gives responsibility and brings dignity to those who work. People who work feel like they have something to contribute to the world, and they are right.

By working, we glorify God and fulfill the first purpose that was given to us as human beings.

Creating jobs is not a political idea, but it is a God idea. When we help others to gain meaningful employment, we help them to fulfill their God-given responsibility.

It is time to move past the politics and move towards helping people become all that God created them to be.