Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
This week’s lesson from “The Adult Sabbath School Guide” is titled “Dealing with Debt”. Some really good advice in this lesson. God’s great goal for us is for us to be free. Free to be all He created us to be. And for me, this underscores the lesson this week. We are to be free, hence the caution regarding debt. “… the borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7) as it is quoted in our weekly memory verse. Debt makes us a servant to the lender.
So, is all debt bad? “Owe no one anything, except to love one another” (Romans 13:18) as quoted in Sabbath’s lesson. In this scriptural reference, we see that we are to recognize an even greater “debt” than just money. A debt of love… and all that means. This is HUGE! A debt without measure. A debt of love that might even include money, your resources, as well as your time… even your life-blood. How far will you go for love? Is love the preeminent motivator of your life? Like it was for God in whose image we are made? Will you sacrifice all for love?
We are to avoid those things that keep us from loving others, keep us from committing whole heartedly to others. We are not to stay-out of debt so that we can live unto self, more efficiently. We are to stay-out of debt in order to be able to bless others. To live selflessly. We are to manage money so that we can be a blessing to others.
This is God’s economy. It is the essence of tithing, of offerings, of money management. In order to be a blessing. Not to recompense God for all that He has done for us. But so we can bless others. God desires us to have the same joy He has. The joy of blessing and being a blessing. But self stands in our way.
So, God starts with commandments… and with rules. And if we conform our lives to the rules, we can think we have done our all. Not so. The rules are only in-place as an emergency measure, to bring us to faith in Christ. And once we start to have faith in Christ, this is the beginning of our great, wonderful, purposeful life in relationship with our Father and Friend. Sharing with Him. Sharing His life of love. Staying out of debt because we are told-to is not the end of it all. It is but the beginning of it all.
Remember, all God’s “thou shall” and “thou shall not” are but emergency measures of rules and commands to keep us safe. But you don’t really remedy anything with rules. You merely control it. You keep society a safer place to live. All the rules are added as an emergency measure to bring us to Christ. To value Him and trust Him. And if so, He can create in us a new heart and a right spirit. And then, we become the blessing He intended all along.
With brotherly love,
Jim
