Slave to Debt

Matthew 5:23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

I was thinking the other day about debt. As a student I am in the process of still accumulating more and more. It is shocking and troubling every time I see how much I owe to the government. 

As I continue with my schooling, and plan on taking another year and finishing the degree I started (I don't think it is right not to finish what one starts either) I feel a little but like a hypocrite, saying that it isn't the way that it should be but at the same time adding to what I already have.

I trust that God has called me to my education that I am pursuing. I have no doubt that God can use me and what I am learning, but I am fully aware that debt is not the way that God designed it to be, and it will be something I will need to deal with in a very intentional way. 

I don't know why exactly this verse came to mind or convicted my heart. There are many other verses that deal directly with money, and how we can only serve one master. Maybe it is because I have become satisfied with the idea that I will never be monetarily wealthy, and to some I have heard on this it seems that that is the goal. 

"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar...." I have my heart on serving the Lord. More specifically I see myself involved in a ministry position somewhere when I am finished with my education.  I want to be a living sacrifice that Paul speaks of in his letters, but how can I offer all of me, when I am committed to repaying the debt I have accumulated. 

There is hope "Leave you gift there in front of the altar" God isn't going anywhere. Getting into debt isn't something that will bar us from being involved in God's kingdom. 

"First go and be reconciled to them;" God wants us to make it right. Make it a priority. It might be difficult, and surely you won't get out of it until you pay the last cent, but make it a priority. There are lots of tools and resources out there that help make this a possibility. Get a job, work hard, budget, sacrifice the luxuries, and avoid getting into larger debt. 

"Then come and offer your gift." God is not going anywhere, and being free opens up more opportunities to be used by God. 

Please don't get me wrong. God can and does use people who are in debt, he cares a lot about those people and their debt is nothing standing in between them and salvation or spreading the kingdom of God. 

In a bigger picture I have heard and have been a child of the thought that students should pay for their own education and that student debts are simply a part of life. It has taught me a lot about budgeting and managing my finances, but I don't know if that completely meshes with what God has taught on money and finances. 
Education is important, it seems like an almost necessary step in most careers, but if possible, shouldn't we encourage and help those around us not to get caught into being tied down to so much debt?

I have not come to complete understanding of how all of this works together, or even exactly how long it will take me to  "First go and be reconciled to them;"  but I know that it will be a priority, and I will do everything that I can to reconcile my debt so that I can fully serve God.

Teach me to number my days

Day 8191:

Teach me to number my days.  Maybe the psalmist grasped something that we often forget. We are frail, mortal beings in a harsh and finite world. Only by God’s grace do we see another day.

Lord, teach me to number my days. It is a reminder not to waste away the time I have been given today to bring God glory. It is a reminder of the temporary nature in which we exist for now. But it also reminds me that we are looking forward to heaven. These days will not be all that we have but rather they are a set time appointed here on earth and if we use them well there will be much rejoicing in heaven.

So how do we live out these days? Earlier today I was at a Bible study where we were looking at John 15. “Abide in me.” Jesus says that an important aspect of the Christian’s life is to abide in him. Abide in His love. If we understand the way that Jesus loved us we will be better able to love others because we love because He first loved us.

Jesus talks more about the vine and branches and wraps up the thought with saying that he had said these things that His joy may be in us and that our joy may be full (15:11)

So what does it mean that our joy may be full? James 1 talks about joy during times of trails. My thoughts have been that joy comes from hope. We can persevere through trials of all kinds if we have a greater hope that we are looking forward to. Joy comes from the hope. Joy surpasses the happiness and smiling. Joy goes deeper than the surface and the droughts of trials are not threats to the tree that grows there. Rejoicing is the action of this joy. It is the flowers that refresh in the spring, the steady green leaves despite the heat of the desert.

(Philippians 4) Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Rejoice, the Lord is near, He is our hope. He is our strength and in Him we are able to find joy and actually rejoice in times where it would be natural to respond with anxiety and worry.

There is a way to respond to the world without worry that isn’t what God is calling us to. The apathetic response of I can’t do anything anyways... attitude isn’t what Paul is going for. Rather it is a response that recognizes the battle has already been won and we are able to live and serve out of that victory for the rest of eternity.

So this joy, this deep, unshakable hope and expectation of what is to come, bubbling up and spilling over, giving life to all that surround it. An almost giddy expectation when we realize the little part that we get to play in this grand scheme of things.

So teach me to number my days so that I may serve to the greatest of my ability with the joy bubbling up out of me because I am firmly rooted in this hope:

That to live is for Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1)