“Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.”
In the first 4 verses of this chapter we have watched as Solomon has made a pretty spirited and forceful argument for not getting indebted or beholden to someone else. I suspect Dave Ramsey uses this passage a good bit in his training. Solomon actually paints an interesting picture of a person going and begging, pleading and doing whatever else they can to get out of the grasp of the debt holder. As a wild animal caught by a hunter will flail about trying to get away from the imminent danger so should we from the one we owe. I watched my daughter have an exchange with her 4 year old daughter the other day. They 4 year old wanted something from her mom that was not coming about as quickly as she desired and so she stomped her foot at her mom. Bad move. Her mom stopped what she was doing, looked directly at the little one and said very clearly, “you don’t stomp your foot at me young lady. Do you understand?” That may be a fact however some translate that as exactly what Solomon is telling his son to go and do to the person to whom he is indebted. The image in these words was go stop your foot and demand he relent. A debt or a promise can be very restricting on our ability to live freely in God’s service. The point is that any debt in our life puts us under a degree of bondage to another. When I may owe money on my house, car or credit cards I have a responsibility to prove and provide things regularly to the one holding the note. Today release the bonds of indebtedness whereever possible and live free. #BeTheEdge
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Jesus
