The Big Bad Wolf is huffing and puffing for you…… Do you feel relentless wheeze of hot breath on your neck? Can you imagine the warm droplets of foul smelling saliva dripping down the wolf’s chin as it opens its mouth to devour your last penny? The stench of greed and agony of fear hovers over you as the WOLF of DEBT eats your intestines. Look into those cold eyes and know he LOVES your pain and swallows every drop of your soul as debt builds in your life. Okay, enough of my Vincent Price hopes and fantasies….
Well, it’s almost Halloween as I type this so I figured we would acknowledge the beast of debt as well as give us some scripture to combat debt in our lives. Debt is not condemned in the bible, however warned of its dangers.
We are all familiar with Proverbs 22:7 “The rich rule over the poor, the borrower is slave to the lender.” We also need to be aware that if we take out debt, we are to repay the debt as in Psalms 37:21 teaches “The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously.” Notice, the second part in Psalms “the righteous GIVE generously.”
Debt presumes the future, thus it’s important to limit the use of debt as much as possible. Yes, a home and a car note can be acceptable as long as they are affordable. Paying off that one crazy night a TACO BELL, WHITE CASTLE, WAFFLE HOUSE bender that was three months ago on your credit card is NOT ACCEPTABLE (Let alone the indigestion…)
James 4:13-15 says this “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yes you do not know what you life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that spears for a little while and then vanishes away.
Know that God will provide and lest we be hasty or angry at other who is more successful than us when they are working in a manner that is unholy:
Psalm 37:7 “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.”
God wants us to honor our debts and might be just a tad testy if we don’t as evidenced in Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 “When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it, for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! It is better that you should not vow than that you vow and not pay.”
Let’s end on a cheery note shall we: Romans 13: 8 “Let no debt remain outstanding, expect the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.”
Chew on those verses and let us not have the monster of debt run our lives.