When we put ourselves into financial debt, what we are doing at its root is saying we do not trust Christ to provide for the needs that we believe we have, whether those needs are real or supposed. To doubt the provisions of the Lord is to say to His face that you do not trust Him, that you are a better discerner of what you need than He is.
What we generally put ourselves in bondage to in the area of our financial resources can rarely be called a need, food, clothing, and shelter, these are needs my friends, and if you seek first the kingdom of God, these things will be provided for you, if not, well to know the totality of a thing, one must understand the inverse of that thing, so if you do not seek the kingdom of God first, guess what your provisions will be like.
This enabled society we dwell in long ago started to find fertile ground in the church, many have gone from “If any man does not work” (2 Thess. 3:10) to help everyone, all the time, no matter what. The ways of Satan are so subtle. Debt is wanting something that we cannot afford today, it infers a promise of servitude, no different than what Isaac promised Laban for Racheal, (Gen. 29:20) I will give you this, if you will give me that, but I want it now instead of waiting for it is the difference we say today. Debt of any kind is saying I have no desire to be patient and wait on the Lord, (Psalm 27:14) it says I will be alive tomorrow, I will be physically capable of repaying what I cannot wait for, it presumes upon the grace of God. What it does every single time is to fulfill Proverbs 22:7, the borrower is now a slave, the Christian who has determined to live in debt has persuaded himself into believing that he can serve two masters with the same vigor.
My grandfather was not a saved man, but he put it in some of the best words of the world I have ever heard, “If you have it in your billfold, that means you can afford it, if not, you can’t.” This man raised up four children during the great depression of the 1930’s, and would rather have stood in a soup line, hunt and fish for what his family needed than go to the bank. Many who do not have that perspective, saved or lost, do not see it that way, they do not see themselves on their knees in front of the loan officer at the bank, begging for money so they can go and purchase what they cannot wait for, what they will not trust in the Lord to provide in His time.
For those who profess Christ as Lord to do so should invoke great shame, but alas it does not, they have been deceived into seeing these actions as normal, as just a part of life, that being a slave to the world and to Christ is just an ordinary part of their lives. In this area their witness is ruined, you do not ask a man who is in financial debt how to get out of debt, and the brother or sister who is preparing to walk into a bank, who is bringing their credit card out of their pocket to purchase something, rarely desires to hear the word “Slave.” Life is long, they will have time to repay what they owe, nothing out of the ordinary will happen to them, their employment field is secure and there is a ladder to climb, “Let’s go to church and sing songs about the provisions of God.”
They worry profusely at the end of each month, for the bills are due, they watch each paycheck fly out the door the moment it touches their hand, their lives are consumed with a latent fear that they will not face, and many pray to God to give them more, more money, more things, a better this or that. They drive from their thirty-year mortgaged houses in their seven-year loan vehicles to purchase items with their credit cards they rarely need. It is a bondage that many of the children of God have willingly placed themselves in, and they do not realize the chains that bind them hinder their work for Christ.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18) The love of Christ says that He will “Supply all your need according to his riches in glory,” (Phil. 4:19) it says “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” (Mark 11:24) “Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?” (Prov. 8:1) Yet far too many who praise Him on Sunday pull out their credit cards on Monday, worry and fret thru the week about the hole they have dug, and instead of searching for the face of God to release them from this slavery, ask Him to provide even more. Do you know how much money is enough my friends, the amount that you need for today, that is enough.
If you have trusted Him with your salvation, with your very soul, why can’t you trust Him to provide your needs for today, why place yourself into bondage for the things that will fade away, things that can in no way be compared to what awaits the faithful servants of Christ. One of the greatest gifts that comes with the patience of the saints is the knowledge that our Lord is faithful and trustworthy, that He alone can provide all our needs and a great many of our wants while allowing us to remain free men, in bondage to Him only, a bondage that will bring with it a peace that surpasses all understanding.
Everything in this world that you possess will be lost to you one day, the treasures you cannot wait for, these items that you claim as your own that in all reality belong to the bank, the credit card company, the loan officer at the car dealership, are as much yours as they are theirs, “The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” (Psalm 24:1) Learn to wait patiently on the Lord for your needs, and you will find that with those needs He will provide all of your hearts wants with them. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33)