The Debt Dissolving Desire Series

About one hundred and sixty five years ago, in Jan. of 1835, the United States of

America became the only major nation in modern history to do a certain thing. It was a

thing she would love to be able to do again, for she paid off her national debt. It was

done by the sale of public lands in the West. Unfortunately, that was a one time solution,

and that was the only year our nation had no debt. Today the national debt is a major

problem. Personal debt is also a major social issue. Studies have shown that the heavy

burden of debt is a primary cause for depression, alcoholism, marital conflict and

divorce, and all of the other negative effects of these problems.

Even for those who are wise, and do not get in over their heads, there is still the

constant pressure of debt. We can all identify with the poet who wrote,

Tomorrow never comes, they say,

But all such talk is idle gush,

For when we have a debt to pay,

Tomorrow gets here with a rush.

Debt is not all bad, for most of us would be riding horseback to our caves, instead of

riding in cars to our homes, if it were not for the possibility of debt. Debt has its good

side, and even its bad side has caused a lot of good. People hate it so much that it

motivates them to work hard to avoid it. Horace Greeley hated debt, and he said, "I

would rather be a convict in a state prison, a slave in a rice swamp, than to pass through

life under the horror of debt." He so hated it that it drove him to work hard and become

a very successful editor of the New York Tribune.

Sr. Walter Scott wrote most of his great novels in order to wipe out a terrible debt.

Mark Twain lectured all over the world to pay off a huge debt he had acquired. Howard

Ruff, one of the leading financial advisers in America, was once in debt for half a million

dollars. His father took his own life because of being in debt, but Howard went from

bankruptcy to wealth and fame. He paid off every cent of his debt. He hated it so much

he was driven to defeat it, and not be defeated by it. Debt can be a powerful motivator,

and it does not always have to be hated. Paul was motivated to become a great preacher

and church planter because of a great debt he owed. He wrote in Rom. 1:14, "I am a

debtor both to Greeks and to the Jews, both to the wise and the foolish." He was debt

driven disciple. He owed everything to the grace of Christ, who saved him, and the least

he could do was to devote his life to sharing the good news with a lost world.

Debts can have a good side in the life of a pagan. Dr. Walter Judd, as a young

missionary doctor in China, had to chose to treat kindly, or coolly, a very cruel and

wicked chief of bandits. Lu Hsin-Ming led men who looted and killed with no respect for

life. He became ill, and when the Chinese medicine did not help, he was brought to the

hospital. Dr. Judd treated him with kindness, and after a few days he recovered. Some

months later word came that the Nationalist Army was on its way to drive out the

bandits. Everyone knew this meant terror for the city, for the bandits would rob, rape,

and destroy, before they fled. Instead, the chief came to Dr. Judd and thanked him. He

even paid the $170.00 hospital bill, and marched off without violence. He had planned to

take Dr. Judd as a hostage, but his kindness in treating him changed his mind. He was a

cut-throat pagan, but he felt the power of an honest debt, and his indebtedness motivated

him to be kind in return.

Debt is not all bad. Paul even says in Rom. 13:8, "Owe no man anything, but to love

one another." The debt of love we owe to all, and this is a good debt, for it motivates us

to be more Christlike. Someone even found a good side to the national debt. It is almost

a certain guarantee that future generations of Americans will never become ancestor

worshipers. This is what you call making the best of a bad situation. But the fact is,

there is an optimistic side to debts. The pessimistic side is due to the fact that debts can

become so excessive that they depress, defeat, and destroy. Debts can be deadly, and that

is the kind of debts that Jesus is dealing with in this prayer.