Friday, February 18, 2011

Living on Borrowed...

It is quite amazing when you stop to think about how accustomed we are to borrowing in our culture.  One such evidence is the massive amount of debt the average person has.  Indeed debt has become an assumed reality for (practically) everyone today.  Want a house?  Go in debt.   Want a car?  Go in debt.  Want some clothes?  Hey, stores can make that easy too - "Do you have a _____ card?" - go in debt.  Want the "Just can't live without it hits you love from the 70's, 80's, and early 90's? You can have them for just three easy payments..."  Go in debt.

I understand some will argue for "good debt" (e.g., business debt, school loan debt), but monetary debt is not my focus - it is merely an illustration. 

Rather, consider people who claim to not believe in God and desire to live how they want (they could be "good" or "bad" citizens, it makes no difference).  They are living on borrowed time because they want to enjoy all the benefits which can only exist if there is a moral Creator (e.g., don't steal my stuff, treat me with decency and respect, pay me for the work I've done, etc.), yet they do not want to conform their lives to His desires.  In essence they are in debt.  In other words, there will come a time when they have to give an account for their lives...

Consider also a Christians who hold a grudge, withhold giving to God's Kingdom, do not serve in God's Kingdom, etc.  They too are living on borrowed time.  They were forgiven when they entered God's Kingdom, but somehow justify withholding it from others (and in essence hold themselves in bondage).  God has blessed them with abilities in order to earn money (and everything is His anyway), but they desire to spend it as they wish (and in essence hold themselves in bondage).  Jesus came to serve and not be served, but they choose to not follow the way of the cross (and in essence hold themselves in bondage). 

I know there are a variety of reasons why one justifies a grudge, not giving, not serving, not loving others - basically not dying to the things of the world.  Yet all that does is hold one in bondage to the world and its evil system (run by Satan).

I also wonder if an influence that has increased the stranglehold of those unGodly habits in the lives of many Christians is the way debt has influenced our view of tomorrow.  "It really is OK, enjoy the benefits now - you deserve them - you can always pay it back tomorrow..."  The problem is we can get accustomed to enjoying the benefits, want more of them, and not realize we have run up a huge tab...or in the case of non-Christians, not even realize there is a tab.