How much do I owe? Every time we purchase a house, vehicle or some other item of significance, debt can be a consideration.  Today, most of us purchase almost everything with a credit card. I haven’t carried change around with me for years.  My hamburger and fries are acquired with plastic.

However, have you ever considered how much we owe others, namely, those who have invested in us to make us what we are today?

Here is a list of Bible verses on the subject:

Philemon 1:19

I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides.

Romans 13:7

Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Many young men and women joined the armed services because they believed they owed their country something. Many people stayed in a difficult marriage because they believed they owed that to their children. Many children cared for their elderly parents because they felt indebted to them.

Do you have any debts that need attention?

Think about it.

Gary

In high school I played baseball as a first baseman. The left-handed batter was up and the pitcher was ready to deliver the pitch. Taking the right stance, but with my mind somewhere else, I heard the crack of the bat and something hit my mitt. Quickly examining my glove, I was astonished to find the baseball snuggled in its folds. Two steps to the bag and the runner was out.

Pretty proud of myself, I threw the ball back to the pitcher. Someone shouted, “Great catch.” I acknowledged that with a nod, all the time knowing Jupiter had to have been aligned with Mars.

That same principle is found in Scripture:

1 Kings 22:34

But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.”

This soldier wasn’t expecting to hit anything, but that arrow had the king’s name on it.

It’s a God thing.

Think about it.

Gary

A flaw in someone’s character is an undesirable quality that he or she has. Unfortunately, for all of us on this planet this is a reality we face, and it can be a nuisance. Some of us have more flaws than others, but all of us have flaws.

One of the defects of the apostle Peter was kowtowing to peer pressure. The apostle Paul had to confront him about this serious matter in Galatians.

Galatians 2:11-13

Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.  And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy and prejudice have to be dealt with if the church is to attain all the blessings that God has in store for it. In all of our lives, self-examination must take place, confession has to be made, and change has to be instituted.

Think about it.

Gary

If they had a social gospel in the days of the prodigal son, somebody would have given him a bed and a sandwich and he never would have gone home.

• Vance Havner

The meaning of Vance Havner’s statement was that tragedy led the prodigal to repentance and ultimately back to the father’s house. Those difficulties in life cause us to depend on God alone.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime

Author unknown

God gave a principle of how to help those less fortunate and allow them to keep their dignity:

Leviticus 19:9

‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God.

The Bible has some great principles because the Author is the One who put us together.

Think about it

Gary

My older brother always had a pickup because he worked for a paper company.  Depending on his mood and frame of mind, he would sometimes   let me use it, but most times he wouldn’t.  You see, I didn’t have a driver’s license. If I wanted to procure it, I would wait till he was asleep, go into his room and whisper, “Can I use your truck?”  He would grunt something unintelligible, and being me, I interpreted that guttural sound as a yes. Anyone leaving keys in vehicles in those days made deception possible.

Jacob pulled that fast-one on his father by using his father’s blindness to deceive him. There was really no need to do that and the consequences would plague Jacob the rest of his natural days.

The Bible has much to say about deception because that is a dangerous human habit:

1 Peter 3:10

For “He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit.

You understand that we are all capable of falling into this sin of deceit, but believers are warned to stay away from it.

Give it some thought.

Gary

“Get all you can, can all you get and then sit on the can.” I couldn’t tell you where that statement came from, but it is certainly a principle that many follow wholeheartedly.  It doesn’t need explanation, but just a little firing in the frontal lobe will do the trick.

The Bible has many passages to address this malady. Here’s one:

Matthew 6:19-21

 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

When Howard Hughes died in 1976, he was among the world’s richest people, and nearly everything he owned was under a legal cloud. Did you know he didn’t take a nickel with him, nor did he leave a forwarding address?

Think about it.

Gary

On one of my many hikes on Mount Katahdin, my group came across a family huddled between some boulders to escape the wind and cold. The two young girls were between eight and ten years old and their parents were probably in their early thirties. The wife had that look on her face that said to her husband, “What did you get us into?” I don’t think he had a great marital future after this particular expedition.

There have been sixty deaths on Katahdin since 1933, most often because of poor planning and lack of preparation.

That is also true of life because it also can be so unpredictable and dangerous.

The Bible says:

Proverbs 15:22 

Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.

This young couple made it; however, I’m not sure if their marriage did.

Think about it.

Gary