Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Proverbs 6:1-5
Prov 6:1-5
My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger, if you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor: go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor. Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber; save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
Rom 13:7-8
Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
In the mid 1940’s there was a folk/country song called "Sixteen Tons” that was a huge hit. It was re-released in the mid 1950’s and was a hit again. It told of a man who worked in the coal mines and barely made a living. The mining town was owned by the mine owner so he would give credit to the workers. At the end of the year, he got all of his wages back in payments and the miners were left with nothing but another debt. “I owe my soul to the company store.”
When we owe someone, we are in their debt, and they therefore become our master. Paul says that we become debtors to either righteousness or to sin, making one or the other our master. As the children of God, we are to only allow God to be our master, Jesus our Lord. We owe Jesus our all because he gave his all for us. We are to choose the path of righteousness and live for God.
The only thing worse than being in debt is being in debt for another person. When we incur a debt for ourselves, we have some control over making the payments and we have use of that for which we made the debt. When we become surety for another person, they derive the benefit, but we hold the liability. Wisdom says this is a mistake. From a humanitarian point of view, there are times when we should make an exception, but only if we are prepared to pay the debt for them. Love is of much more value than the money, friendship is greater than gold.
O Lord God, my heavenly Father and loving Lord, I am thankful for those who have been willing to help me in the past. I am also thankful that you have allowed me to be able to help others along the way. Help me always remember the words of Jesus that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Give me your wisdom to manage my life and the things you have put in my stewardship so that I will use all you give to your glory. Thank you for the good report some have gotten from their tests. Fill me with your Spirit. I pray in the name of Jesus my Lord.
Robert
