Benefits For Whom?

I’m not what you would call an alarmist, a pessimist at times and always a thinker of the future, which makes me a pest at other times, but I received this interesting article not too long ago, via email, and thought it was time I share part of it with you.
About the time our thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tytler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2000 years earlier. “A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist right up until the time voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to the loose financial policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During these 200 years, those nations always progressed in sequence from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back into bondage.” Think about it and I believe you’ll discover that the democracy we live in today has become very dependent on its treasury.
A four-year-old boy was asked to say the blessing at Thanksgiving dinner. He began thanking God for his mommy and daddy, brothers and sisters, grandparents and every relative he could think of names for. Then he began to give thanks to God for the food spread before him. He gave thanks for the turkey and dressing, the cranberry sauce and fruit salad, the pies and cakes, even the Cool Whip. Then, after a short pause, he looked up and asked his mother, “If I thank God for the broccoli, won’t He know I’m lying?”
[Luke 16: 1-15] Way too often we work hard to convince others, and ourselves, that our good works are solely for the benefit of others, yet we tend to make sure we receive some sort of benefit in return for our “voluntary” labors. An investment in Christian love has no pay off in this world and all the beneficiaries of your unselfish love you may never know. A thirsty man crossing the desert stumbled upon a well with an old-fashioned hand-operated pump. Hanging on the pump handle was a small jar of water with a crude sign: “Prime The Pump First And It Will Give You All The Water You Need. Then Leave The Jar Full Of Water And Covered Tightly So The Next Traveler Can Prime The Pump”. The man was so thirsty he was tempted to ignore the sign and gulp down the water. He instead decided to pour half the water into the pump handle. Sure enough, after a few minutes, the water expanded the seal in the pump handle and he began to pump up an ample supply of clear, cold water. He went on his way with his thirst quenched and a full canteen as well. Being a faithful steward is something like priming the pump. When we take our eyes off ourselves and think about the needs of others, we are inevitably blessed in the process. One of the great joys of life is to be a pump primer in the cause of Christ. For others to receive God’s grace you must show them the blessings you have received through your dependency on God’s treasury.