Monday, September 30 – Daily Devotion for First Program / MONEY, WORK AND DEBT Day 8 ANOTHER KIND OF SLAVERY Deuteronomy 28:12-14 Debt is a problem. Debt is a big problem. I know I’m not saying anything revolutionary, and yet debt is such a pervasive issue in our society that it bears repeating. Debt is a huge problem. Debt is not a sin, thankfully, because in our world today, having some debt is almost unavoidable. Very few of us can afford to buy a house or a car outright, and there is nothing wrong with taking out a loan that we know we can pay back without too much difficulty. The reason debt has become such a huge problem is not because it’s a sin such as stealing or lying, but because we get so far behind in making our payments that we end up orienting our priorities around the debt. And, as we have learned, anything that becomes a priority and gets our best efforts – and is not God – is an idol. My grandfather was strongly opposed to having any kind of debt. He grew up during the Great Depression and saw many friends and neighbors lose their farms to the banks. After serving in the Navy in World War II, he worked his way through Chiropractic College and set up his practice in a small town, taking care of many farmers in the area. There was one bank in his little town, and all the residents got their mortgages, car loans, and business loans from that bank. The president of the bank “owned” everybody in town, and he wasn’t shy about reminding people of it. He could make the local government do what he wanted, was the unquestioned arbiter of all decisions in his church, and received preferential treatment everywhere he went. He got away with this because everyone owed him money. Everyone, that is, except my grandfather. Grandpa’s poor upbringing showed him how destructive debt could be, so he was very frugal. He saved all he could and only bought a new car or new equipment for his business when he had the money. He even built his house piece by piece as he was able to pay for it, out of his own pocket. My grandfather and the bank president never got along very well, because Grandpa didn’t like the way the president treated the people. The president resented that he didn’t “own” my grandfather and his family the way he did everyone else. When Moses gave his farewell speech to the former Egyptian slaves whom God had liberated and led to their own land, he encouraged them to keep God’s commandments for their own benefit. One of those benefits was that they would “lend to too many nations, but you won’t have any need to borrow” (Deuteronomy 28:12b). These people knew what it was like to be in slavery, and they were determined not to return to it in any form, including being enslaved by debt. Far too many of us today are enslaved by our debts to others. We get so far into debt that we orient all our priorities around keeping up with the payments, lest we get our stuff repossessed. (Even though we don’t really need most of it to begin with). The consequences of this modern debt-slavery are many. One of the worst is that when an opportunity to participate in God’s redeeming work comes along, we can’t do it because our money is spoken for before we’ve even earned it. As we said last week, , the first step in defeating an idol’s power over us is to recognize the idol for what it is, then name it as such so we can begin to escape its slavery. May we have the courage to look at our own lives, name the debt that enslaves us, and begin taking steps to remove its shackles. Lord help me to make you the first priority in every area of my life. Help me to take the steps I need so that my debts do not own me and so that I am free to participate in your redeeming work in this world. Amen.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:03:46 +0000
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