“So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go—to the point of exhaustion— and give your neighbor no rest!”
In a very practical sense Solomon would be an advocate for Larry Burkett or for the younger folks, Dave Ramsey. He did not think being in debt to anyone was a good idea. He went so far as to advocate going and negotiating, haggling, begging your way out of any debt. Obviously he correctly understood that debt enslaves us to the debt holder. In his day it put not only the debater at risk but the entire family would pay the cost of the head of households debt. Also in his day they risked everything, home, bed even their pillow. Early in our marriage Jennifer and I decided to never buy a new car, to not allow us to own anything that we owed more on than it was worth in case we needed to get out of the debt. As in Solomons day debt can strangle a person and their family. It can put their future at risk and cause their present to be driven by decisions based on managing their debts rather then what would be best for their life both socially and spiritually. Today we can be indebted to others by things besides financial debt. We can be enslaved by secrets they know, poorly thought through commitments we made and numerous other things that can be leveraged against us. Today aggressively pursue clearing up all your debts and walk only indebted to God. #BeTheEdge
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another…” Romans 13:8a NIV
