DEBT! and its companions... -

For those of you who don't know, I am presently employed as a commercial bank lender. I provide customers with the bank's money so that they can build or buy homes, start or buy businesses, and purchase anything from lawnmowers to livestock to land and more. I make sure that the customer repays the bank plus interest and if/when they don't, I take whatever asset(s) they used to obtain the debt and claim it as being owned by the bank. So if you use my employer's money for your own purposes, you must obey our payment arrangement or lose something valuable.

The Bible warns that this situation should be avoided unless necessary, and even then, it should be a temporary arrangement. One implication is that a potential companion of debt is servitude of the borrower to the lender (Proverbs 22:7). As a servant, another potential companion of debt is loyalty which should be reserved for those to whom God says it is due, namely Himself and our brethren in Christ (Romans 13:8).

Additionally, as I have indicated in other posts, our civil government in this country has, does, and will likely continue to overstep its God-given limits. One area of socialism in this country is the government funding of programs to assist people who would not otherwise qualify as borrowers. The government spends money and pledges money (which it obtains from the pockets of faithful taxpayers) to help people get into debt when the common evaluation states that they should not get into debt. So another potential companion of debt, presumption. The use of debt to obtain goods and services has become so common that people see debt and those goods and services as rights, which the government should assist them in obtaining. No need to pray to God and depend on Him as a provider, I'll just call on my substitute god, the State, to provide for my wants.

So where does this leave me? Praying. Wrestling in my mind. Desiring to serve God according to His Word. Seeking to glorify Him and conform every area of my life to His revealed will. Those of you who are, like me, apt to pray to the God of the Bible are welcome to mention my quandary next time you enter His throne room.