Dont’ be in debt to your neighbor or a stranger. My wife and I are slowly but surely trying to get out of debt so that we can concentrate on the things that God has planned for us to do in advance. We believe that it keeps us from doing more for the people that we want to minister to. When reading the Proverb of the Day (It is Nov. 6 so I read the 6th chapter of Proverbs) I came accross this.
1 My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor,
Have given a pledge for a stranger,
2 If you have been snared with the words of your mouth,
Have been caught with the words of your mouth,
3 Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself;
Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor,
Go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor.
4 Do not give sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;
5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand,
And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
Prov 6:1-5 (NASB77) -[red emphasised by me]
There were a couple of things that I noticed. Become surety (under obligation) would mean to become a slave of basically, even if it was like an employer/employee relationship. Solomon basically says, “Importune your Neighbor” plead with him to deliever yourself. I believe that he is saying not to let yourself be slave to anyone, except the one that you owe all to and that is God alone. This is wise council, and I look forward to seeing how he will get us out of this situation that we have put ourselves into.
Chaundra believes that he is going to work with us, as long as we do our best to stay within our budget every month and not overspend. This hasn’t always been what we have done and now it is time to get serious and try to do everything in our power and his to get us out of this situation. He has delivered us through his son – which is the good news. Now it is time to do our part and do everything in our power to be in the places that he wants for us. Hopefully we will stick to our guns and do what we are felling he is calling us to do.
Get our of debt and owe noone anything, exept the Father alone. – That is what he is telling me today.
Embracing God 
I have been thinking recently about the verse that says to owe no one anything except the debt of love. Obviously this debt of love is a moment by moment decision and obligation, but I think it can often be planned as well. For instance, a monthly deacon offering that is collected for benevolence, though small, would be the kind of debt God would want us to commit to, but only if we intend to fulfill it. A pledge with no intent is worthless, but a pledge with intent is scriptural and godly, making a difference in the life of the giver and the receiver as it is being fulfilled.
May God help us to evaluate when it is time to cash out on this debt of love, while also helping us to get out of the monetary debts we’ve accumulated, for our own accord. Good intention with unfunded purchases are ultimately bad decisions in light of God’s word. Lord, forgive us of this, and help us to learn to halt our spending until all is paid off. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.