“Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender” (Prov. 22:7).
It is no secret; our country has a debt problem. The current outstanding public debt of the United States is more than $16.4 trillion. If you divided a portion of this debt equally to every man, woman and child in the country, each person would be responsible for $54,806 in debt. Our country, once touted as the richest nation on earth, is living a lie that is catching up with us quickly. We are country teetering on the edge.
I personally believe a nation or even a person in debt can never fully rest in the tranquility of freedom or ascend to the breathtaking peaks of life. For the nation or person carrying a burden of debt they can never pay off, the pursuit of happiness is frustratingly elusive.
Sadly I don’t have the solution to solve our country’s debt problem, apart from falling on our knees and begging our creditor for forgiveness and for mercy. We could admit we have a spending problem and can never repay all that we owe. In humility, we should seek another who is richer and mightier than we to pay our debt for us because we are simply unable.
God never intended for us to be in debt. God knew that if we lived under the burden of a debt that could never be paid off we could never be free and we could never experience the incredible life he has for us. So he sent his son Jesus to come and pay our debt in full. Jesus came that we might have life and life more abundantly. He who the son sets free is free indeed.
Debt, like sin, is designed to enslave us and keep us working and toiling endlessly, trying in vain to pay it off. It is meant to be oppressive and to rob you of life. It’s hard to enjoy a vacation when creditors are calling your cell phone. It is hard to enjoy life when the devil is constantly reminding you of every sin you’ve committed and accusing you of every fault you have. Can anyone relate? If you want to stop the harassing phone calls from the devil all you have to do is tell him to talk to your savior because he has paid your debt in full.
When you are in debt the interest you pay is part of a system designed to keep you under the principal…or “principle” of debt without ever releasing you from the debt itself. The burden of this debt shaves a little of your freedom every year, every month and every day. Many Christians have never enjoyed the freedom of having their sins totally forgiven because they think Jesus only came to pay the interest of their sins. In other words they believe that as they sin they can cry out to God and ask him to pay another month’s interest for the sin they’ve accrued. They still see themselves under the principal of sin…or principle of sin. But that is not what Christ brought. Jesus ushered in a Year of Jubilee for all believers. Jesus brings rest and release from all debt, once and forever. We have no accruing interest because the
principal has been paid in full by the blood of the lamb.
The Year of Jubilee was a year ordained by God where all debt would be forgiven and all slaves would be released. All land would be returned to its rightful owner. This is your year and this is your day.
I’m going to tell you a secret that is a mystery. If you value freedom, stay out of debt; not by working but by resting.
And another thing…if you would want God to release you from your debt then release all who owe you. Forgive any debts owed you. If your brother-in-law owes you $10,000 for the business he tried to start, forgive the debt in full. If your ex-wife hurt you by accusing you of things that were untrue, forgive her fully. You will find there is actually as much — nope, even more — joy in forgiving as there is in being forgiven.
God bless you.
Pastor Heath Rainwater, http://www.facebook.com/gracepoint.nw
