“The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.”
Proverbs 22:7
This little verse in Proverbs packs a punch – two truths. One is dealing with money, the other sin. It doesn’t seem like they have anything in common, but…
The first truth is dealing with money. There is a saying “Money makes the world go around.”, made famous in the musical “Cabaret”. Without it, things will stop and the world will fall apart.
Americans love money. They spend money even if they don’t have any. That is called credit. Did you know that the average balance for a family who have credit cards is more than $9,300? The average American consumer debt is more than $2.7 TRILLION.
Yep, we love money. And we are poor. Because we are poor, we have become slaves to the lender (Credit Card companies). The credit card industry takes in $43 billion per year from fees like late payments, and balance transfers. People are in no shape to pay back that kind of money!
Slaves.
Slaves that have no idea how to get out of the hole they are in, or see no hope at all.
Like slaves to money and credit cards, there are people who are slaves to sin. Unfortunately, we are born with sin and there are people out there who deny that they have sin in their lives. But sin is real. Look at the front page of your morning newspaper each morning and you will see.
Sin is a master that will not let you go. Sin leads to death, physically and spiritually. Sin does not lead you to righteousness and to freedom, but enslavement.
Money is an enslavement. Talk to billionaires and you will find out they want more money! Slaves! Sin is an enslavement. Talk to a person who is addicted to a drug or to porn, they want more! Slaves!
It seems like there is no hope at all for those who are slaves. No one to come and help them or to free them.
But there is hope.
For those who are slaves to credit card debt, you need to check out Dave Ramsey. Dave is a guy who has been a slave and he found a way out of debt and he is teaching people all over the country how to do that. He has a class called Financial Peace University which helps people to get out of debt. I am taking that class and I can say it works, even only after 5 weeks in the class. You can become debt free and not to be a slave to the lender, the credit card companies nor anyone else for that matter! You can pay cash, instead of using credit!
As for sin, even though you were born of the sin nature, you CAN become free. There is no program, no class to be free of sin. There is only One Person who can set you free of being a slave to sin. That Person is Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah. He died on the cross for your sins. Your sins were placed on Him and because the wages of sin is death, He died. BUT He overcame death and rose from the dead, having your sins forgiven and paid for.
The Apostle Paul talks about this in Romans 6:22. Now that you are freed from sin because of the Cross, and being enslaved to God instead of sin, the final benefit in your life is that you have eternal life in Christ Jesus! You are free!
Money and sin. Both enslavers. Both can cause pain and hurt in one’s life. One can cause death. Don’t be a slave no more to either.
Come to Jesus Christ for forgiveness of your sins.
Go to Dave Ramsey and check his website out.
GO!
Tags: Dave Ramsey, debt, Jesus, money, Slaves
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