1 Peter 2:5-6

As you come to him, the living Stone rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:5-6

Friday, September 12, 2014

Paid in Full

Debt is really something in this country.  The national debt is knocking on $18 trillion.  That is an unfathomable amount of money.  They say that it comes down to over $55,000 per US citizen.  I think the real amazing part is that it wasn't all that long ago that we had it paid off.  In the 90s the US economy was going gang busters.  The debt seemed to magically disappear and the politicians were arguing over what to do with the surplus.

Well that didn't last long.  A couple of wars coupled with tax cuts, expansion of medicare, adding a new department to the government, more tax cuts, a few bail outs, a few surges.  As they say in Washington, you spend a billion here and billion there, soon it turns into real money.


Now this really isn't a political rant.  Both parties share in the problem of the country living beyond its means.  I want to focus on when the debt was paid.  I remember in the late 80s and early 90s the nation debt seemed insurmountable then too.  And just like now the conversations were about cuts and taxes.  

When the debt got paid off the entire conversation changed to one of investments and opportunities.  Should the money be returned to the citizens or invested in the future?  These conversations are a lot more fun to have then the ones about which services are getting cut.  


My point is this.  Debt is bondage and solvency is freedom.  Freedom to invest, to plan, to explore.  And the debts do not have to be financial.  When we owe debts they burden us and restrict what we are able to plan for the future.  

In some versions of the Lord's Prayer it says, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."  Our sins create a debt on our soul.  And that debt holds us back.



God can release us from our debts if only we ask.  Our past piles up after a while.  And just like the national debt, it can seem like more than can be overcome.  But God says that freedom is available.  And just like the US economy in the 90s, your conversation can change from regrets about the past to plans for the future.

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