Owe No Man Anything

The United States has three branches of government, executive, legislative and judicial. The legislative branch has two parts, the Senate of one hundred members, and the House of Representatives of 435. Senators have six year terms, and Representatives serve for two. Two major political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, vie for control. Currently the Democrats have the majority in the Senate 54-46. ( Two supposed Independents caucus with the Democrats) The Republicans have an approximately fifty seat majority in the House. This results in a divided Congress.

Several days ago a vote was taken on whether to increase the national debt. The people of this nation already owe nearly seventeen trillion (1,000,000,000,000) dollars in Federal debt, not to mention unfunded promises of an almost incalculable amount. Every year the Federal government runs a large deficit, spending more than the three trillion in revenue that comes in. In the Senate, only eighteen members voted against the increased indebtedness. In the House the nays came to 144 or one-third.

This tragedy is a symptom of a national reality. The majority of the people of this country wallow in debt despite our status as the wealthiest country on the planet. We are never satisified with what we have. Sadly, Christians are in the same boat. On a recent year long journey around the country, I found many Christians crippled by money problems, usually debt, even if they had good incomes by American standards. We have ignored the teaching of the Bible. “Owe no man anything, but to love one another...” ( Romans 13:8) “And the borrower is the servant of the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7)