Monthly musing

                                                   
                                                              When the Bill Collector Calls
            
                                                                           By Jay Launius
 
 
We live in a society of indebtedness. In 2024, the averagehousehold debt was well over $100k.
Our nation’s debt has climbed into the trillions of dollars. Being in debt seems to be an inescapable part of life for most of us. If not for getting a loan, most of us would have never been able to purchase a vehicle or a house. When it comes to our spiritual lives and service to God, how does the Lord feel about our indebtedness?
 
First, the Lord expects His people to pay their debts. “Render to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.” (Rom. 13:7) 
 
The thought is continued in the following verse, “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
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If we are to control our debt, we must first control our personal desires. Learning to be content with what we have will prevent us from accumulating more debt. (Phil. 4:11-13; 1 Tim. 6:6-8; 
Heb. 13:5)  We must remember the wise man’s words concerning debt, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7)  If we are enslaved to debt, then we are not able to serve the Lord with generous giving. Christians should strive to have as little debt as possible, which may mean doing without some of the luxuries of life.
 
Jesus told a story of an indebted servant who owed his master an astronomical amount of money. There was no possible way he could pay it back. However, the master showed mercy and forgave the servant his debt. (Matt. 18:22-35) How would we feel if someone came and paid in-full the loan balance on our house or car? You and I have been shown mercy and love by God in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8)
Our debt for sin has been paid by the sacrifice of Jesus. He paid a debt that wasn’t His and it was a debt we could never pay. 
 
Because of this great gift, we are now God’s children and heirs. (Rom. 8:16-17; 1 John 3:1) And as God’s children, we have an obligation to keep ourselves free from the enslavement of indebtedness.