GETTING OUT OF DEBT

Each new year before tax season, I review my bills and try to eliminate some debt and future taxes. Large debt reminds me of a terminal illness, once you realize how serious it is, the time is up. At some point, you realize you’re over your head and there is no quick way out. The debt problem today is rampant in our area partly because of the high unemployment rate.

There are many kinds of debt; there is financial debt, a debt to society, or a personal debt. Each debt has their own term and conditions for repayment. The larger the debt, the higher the payment and interest charged. You search for options and solutions to remove the debt. Most credit counselors and businesses offering assistance only talk about debt consolidation, rarely about immediate elimination.

Debt can be devastating. It can force you into many levels of depression and alter your behavior significantly. When a debt is overwhelming, you sometimes feel it could never be repaid, so why try. This cycle of behavior forces you deeper into debt. The get rich schemes are scams. They feed on the desperation of the people in need. Creditors benefit from our debt. The interest continues to eat up any payment we make and the late fees keep the debt at its original amount. The only way to eliminate a debt is for it to be paid or forgiven.

Filing for one of the several types of bankruptcy has become the option for many to eliminate their debt. You must obtain an attorney to represent your case and your debt must be substantial. A judge gives the final ruling to remove your debt.

This reminds me of the debt we owed to God for the sin of Adam, passed to all generations. The wages of sin is death and the only release or payment was an acceptable blood sacrifice. No one met the conditions.

When we understand the gravity of our debt to God and the penalties associated with nonpayment, it can overwhelm us.   We can be flooded with feelings of helpless and hopelessness. This is true, until we consider Jesus.

God recognized our inability to pay our debt. Jesus came to become the acceptable blood sacrifice for the sin of Adam. He came to die so that we don’t have to die in our sins (Romans 5:7-20).

At Calvary the debt was settled.  Jesus rose again, returned to heaven, so another comforter could come (John 14:26) to keep us until He comes back for us. He was our attorney who successfully pleaded and won our case to be free. The only fee required to receive this release from our debt to God is repentance and acceptance of Jesus as our savior.

There is a source that benefits if we continue in sin and derives a certain satisfaction from our weakened condition; this source is Satan. He always makes us feel as if we can play now and pay this debt later.

During this New Year, let’s not forget the debt that was paid on our behalf at the cross. Don’t waste our opportunity to be debt free in the sight of God. Accept the mercy and grace of the cross and follow God’s way and remain debt free. We are free to love and adore a God who loved us enough to give His life to redeem us.