June 4 – Proverbs 4-6

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Proverbs 4 - 6. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word. Also above in the tabs is a link to the Bible reading plan.

Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

I am firmly established in my belief that one of the greatest sins of our modern age in America is debt. Unfortunately most American’s have some level of debt. Some of that debt is credit cards, other debt is for vehicles and homes, some for a college education, and then so many other forms of debt. What is the driving factor behind this debt problem? It is the want of too many things. Unfortunately in our current financial market it is hard to not acquire some level of debt. If you wait until you have the money to buy a home you may never purchase a home. That is because the cost of a home is multiple years’ salaries. While not ideal, taking a loan out for a home is almost a necessary evil.

However, we have so many other levels of debt that are caused by the root of wants over needs. In our third chapter of reading, Proverbs 6, we see wise advice against what we call today cosigning. Cosigning is the act of putting your name on a loan document saying you will be responsible for the loan if the person taking it out fails to pay. Our reading calls this foolish. Read again Probers 6:1-5. We call it cosigning, the passage calls it by another name, but no matter the name God’s Word says it is a foolish practice. It says to save yourself from it!

I think we can take that a little further. We will see in other places in these Proverbs that taking in any level of debt is a foolish thing. Whether it is cosigning a loan or incurring your own debt, debt is foolish. Live within your means. Purchase only what you have income for. Do your best to acquire as little debt as you can. I realize that taking out a mortgage, or acquire emergency debt may be necessary in our financially inflated world. When we get our debt under control and minimize it as much as we can, I believe we will be honoring God on an entirely new level.

By the way, I am writing this as someone with too much debt. I have two credit card levels of debt, a mortgage, some medical, a vehicle loan, and student loans. My goal is in seven years to be entirely debt free minus my mortgage payment.

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