How to Get out of
DEBT
by Harry R. Smith *
B il l and Mary, a typical happily married couple, fell gradually into the sinking sand of debt like most Americans. First it was the washing machine, then the television set, then hi-fi, then new furniture. With several other similar ventures, all on the convenient easy- payment plan, they soon found themselves hopelessly en meshed in a financial tangle. The money just wouldn’t spread far enough. In recent years it has been made far easier for the average citizen to obtain credit than it ever was before. Advertisements on every hand urge us to buy on easy terms, often with no money down. As a result, some people let their desire to have things, run away with their judgment. They soon find that the “ easy” pay ments take up so much of their income, that they begin to fall behind. Soon they borrow here and borrow there in an effort to avoid losing the articles on which they are making the payments. What can a person do under such circumstances? Some advocate going to a money lender, borrowing enough to pay off all the installments, and end up owing the one lender the total of what was formerly owed to a score of smaller creditors. This has some advantages, but it is really not a solution of the problem; it merely changes the location of the problem. How can you pay off the one creditor? The hard facts are that the only proper way to get out of financial debt is to reduce one’s expenditures to the point where there is enough left over each pay-day to cover these monthly payments and provide a little margin to go into a savings account for an emergency. In fact, the best kind of advice is to avoid getting into debt any further than can be paid off on the stated terms with the income which you can reasonably expect to receive. Of course there are sometimes extreme cases, where because of some dire calamity, the borrower is deprived of all means of payment, and is thrown into bankruptcy. What little property he has is divided among the credi tors, who thus get perhaps 10c for every dollar that is owed them. What happens to the other 90c that is owed? Well, it too is “ paid” in a sense, for by taking a loss, the lender himself “ pays” it. . But no self-respecting man likes to go through bank ruptcy and thus force his creditors to “ pay his debts.”
There are many cases on record where, even though a man did go through bankruptcy and was thus relieved of his legal responsibility, nevertheless he kept a record of how much each’ creditor suffered, and worked hard, some times for years, until he had paid back every cent. Mark Twain was one such commendable example. Jesus Christ, when He was here on earth, used this kind of an example to point out a great spiritual truth. You may recall the story in Luke 7:36-50, where Jesus had been invited to a dinner by Simon the Pharisee. A penitent woman of the streets came in and, breaking an alabaster box of ointment, washed Jesus’ feet with the ointment mixed with her tears, and wiped his feet with her hair. At this, Simon the Pharisee was critical be cause of the past character of the woman. But Jesus, to teach him a lesson, related the story of a creditor who had two debtors. One owed him five hundred pence and the other, fifty. And to quote the exact words, “When they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most.” Jesus’ point was that both the woman and Simon were sinners. Although in the eyes of the world, the woman was the greater sinner and owed the greater debt, neither she nor Simon had anything at all with which they could pay. The woman, having been forgiven what was ob viously a great debt, was expressing her appreciation by her act of devotion. Simon, although he was a successful man (if riches means success), although he was a prom inent man, although he was a religious man (a Pharisee), yet he too was a sinner. In the eyes of man, he might have been the lesser sinner of the two, but in God’s sight he may well have been the greater, because of his pride, his self-satisfaction, and his failure to acknowledge Jesus Christ as God the Son. Simon, far from kissing Jesus’ feet, had not even accorded Him the usual Oriental courtesy of a basin of water. Simon may have imagined that he owed no debt and therefore had asked no forgiveness. Having received none, he felt no appreciation. You may or may not have financial debts you cannot pay, but it is certain that you have a debt of sin that you cannot pay. The Bible, the Word of God, says that “ ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” and “ the wages of sin is death.” You acknowledge this debt every time you pray “forgive us our debts.” But whether
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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