The reality is, many of us can’t escape debts like mortgages, cars, hospital bills, tax burdens or school loans. Not to mention the catch-all credit card.
Debt is a scary thing. If we don’t pay back what we owe, it accumulates interest. It hangs over us until we’re freed from its chains. It’s like an anchor that won’t let us move forward. Every time we want to buy something, we’re reminded we can’t.
Jesus talked about money more than any other topic. But he always had a way of spiritualizing it to teach deeper truths.
Let’s help our boys understand two truths about the spiritual debt every Christian owes.
Spiritual debt #1: The debt owed to man
Too many men today hold the same world view they had when they were boys – namely that life owes them opportunity and happiness.
But it is the wise man that understands who owes whom:
Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor (Rom. 13:7, NIV).
Paul adds to this debt an additional one that can never be repaid in full:
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law (Rom. 13:8).
It is this “continuing” debt that defines the most joyful people I know. They always express love to others through serving, giving, mourning and just being there. It’s as if they feel they owe these things to people, and constantly make installments.
Once our boys understand that 1) we must pay everyone what we owe them, and 2) we owe everyone a debt of love, it’s important to teach them about the ultimate debt they can never repay on their own.
Spiritual debt #2: A ransom for your life
Did you know that in ancient Israel, men had to pay a price just for the privilege of being sons?
“Whenever you take a census of the people of Israel, each man who is counted must pay a ransom for himself to the LORD. All who have reached their twentieth birthday must give this sacred offering to the Lord” (Ex. 30:12, 14 NLT).
(Keep this verse handy for when your son asks for money. He should pay you!)
This offering helped young men “get right” with God (v. 15). But of course it wasn’t just a one-time life tax; it was due every time there was a census.
Even today, boys at some point will need to stand up and be counted. When they come of age, they’ll have to make their own choices in life, whether good or evil. Often a financial struggle will really be a spiritual battle or a test of their character.
When it comes to the reckoning they must make with God, will they be found wanting, or will they be counted among those whose sins were ransomed by God’s own Son?
Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28).
When we’re right with God, Jesus’ final words on the cross in John 19:30 ring true about our own spiritual indebtedness: “It is finished.”
Paid in full.
By Tom Harper
