Lynn Jones: Dealing with our debts
By Lynn Jones
A man asked a friend whose son had graduated from college, “What is your son doing now?” The man responded, “He’s into collecting?” “Oh, really?” the inquirer asked, “What exactly does he collect?” The father responded, “Mainly debts.”
Debts are a universal problem A Nigerian proverb says, “Debts are like a hippo’s footprints. It’s hard to fill them up.”
In his letter to the Romans, Paul said that all of us have some debts that we need to recognize. And, unless we recognize these debts and work on them, then our Christian lives are going to be hurt.
Paul said that we are debtors who are obligated to live a new way: “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:12-13). He said that we are debtors who are obligated to share the gospel with all people: “I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also” (Rom. 1:14-15). We owe others genuine Christian love: “Owe no one anything except to love one another” (Rom. 13:8). We are debtors to those who have given us the gospel and nurtured our Christian growth: “For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things” (Rom. 15:26-27).
Perhaps Paul got this idea of our being in debt from Jesus in His Lord’s prayer. Jesus said that we are to pray to the Father, “Forgive us our debts.” We are most deeply indebted to Jesus Christ for the price that He paid for the remission of our sins upon the cross.
We used to sing a little chorus, that has these words: “He paid a debt He did not owe,/ I owed a debt I could not pay./ I needed someone to wash my sins away./ And now I sing a brand new song:/Amazing Grace’ all day long./ Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay.”
A creative finance company made this pitch to those in debt. Their ad said, “Now you can borrow enough money to get completely out of debt.” My fellow debtors, we will never be able to get relief from the debt we owe to God and to others. The best that we can do is to receive these gracious gifts and out of gratitude to respond with faithful service.
Lynn Jones is a retired pastor who lives in Oxford. He does supply preaching for churches in his area and often serves as an interim pastor. Jones is also an author, has written two books and writes a weekly newspaper column. He may be contacted at: kljones45@yahoo.com.
