Pastor's Corner: Debt-free living

Debt-free living. That has a pleasant ring to it, doesn't it. Those three simple words have a way of invoking a sense of freedom. They clash with today's norms of mortgages, high interest rates, credit card and consumer debt - where we spend, spend, spend on someone else's dime in a thrillingly euphoric (and often expensive) period of grace.

But that grace period ends when the creditors come to call. Ultimately, we are brought to account for our indebtedness. The time comes to pay back (with interest). We become enslaved to paying for our playing. At the least, debt can be a burden, but when it's unmanageable, it can be heartbreakingly back-breaking. And when unforeseen circumstances freely throw themselves onto the load we're already carrying, our debt can become as despairing as death.

But what if someone suddenly came along and picked up the tab? Imagine escaping from the gnashing teeth of creditors as they are suddenly disarmed and stripped of the shackles to your life. Can't you just feel the ecstasy of weightless freedom! Could you ever feel more alive?

That's debt-free living!

Romans 6:23 reminds us that "the wages of sin is death." Eternal, spiritual death. We can't get out from under it because through and through, we are all sinners.

In the Lord's prayer we pray, "forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us." Another person might pray, "forgive us our trespasses," while still another prays, "forgive us our debts." It's all the same prayer. We are all sinners. We are all in debt. Accept that.

Oh, we might make payments on our debt. We might even have a pretty good run. But then a moment of selfishness takes over and we sin against God. That's like taking on a second mortgage. So, we double-down on our payments, only to trespass against our neighbor. You might as well consider that as the car breaking down. No matter how diligent we are about being good and staying on track something always throws another hundred pounds to the burden on our back. Sometimes we do it to ourselves. Sometimes life throws us a curve. How ever you want to look at it, analyze it, throw it into a pie chart, it always turns out the same - sin is a debt you can never fully repay. There are no debt-relief programs in sight. No government handouts or lottery wins to relieve you.

If only there was someone who could take you out of the darkness of this tomb.

Oh wait! There is! In fact, He gave His life to bail you out.

Colossians 2:13-15: "When you were dead in your sins ... God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross and having disarmed the powers and authorities."

You want to know why Christians have been called Easter people? Because through Christ, our debt has been paid and we have been freed from our tomb.

That is debt-free living.

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Commissioned Lay Pastor Theresa Danley, Milk River Churches (First Presbyterian Church of Havre, Presbyterian Church of Chinook, Chinook United Methodist Church, Chinook American Lutheran Church)