Owe No Man

Freitag, 6. Juli 2012

Owe No Man

"Allowance time!" said Dad as he entered his son's room. Mark looked up and shrugged. "What's wrong?" Dad asked. "You don't seem very interested. Does that mean you don't need any money today?"

"Even if you gave me way more than my allowance, I wouldn't be able to buy anything for myself," said Mark sadly.

"Tell me about it," suggested Dad.

"Well, when I was at the mall with Scott a few weeks ago, I ran out of money, so he loaned me some," Mark explained. "I meant to pay him back the next day, but they had a sale on CDs at the music store. The manager knows me, and he said I could buy some and pay half then and the other half later. I figured it would be only a week till I could pay the rest." He sighed. "But after school one day all the guys were getting candy and stuff. I really wanted some, so . . ."

"So you spent your money on junk food," Dad finished when Mark paused.

Mark nodded. "Yeah, the little bit I had left," he said glumly. "I even borrowed a little more, and now everybody wants to be paid back right away. It'll be weeks before I have anything to spend on myself!"

"It's generally best to go without things until you have the money to pay for them," said Dad solemnly. "That's a biblical principle, too. The Bible warns that borrowers are servants to those who lend them money."

"What should I do now?" asked Mark. "Any chance you could raise my allowance?" He saw Dad frown. "Or give me an advance?" suggested Mark hopefully. But he could see that wasn't going to happen, either. "No, I guess not," continued Mark with a sigh. "Do you think I could skip putting money in the church offering for a while?"

"You mean borrow some of God's money?" asked Dad. He shook his head. "Set aside God's money first, and then divide the remainder of your allowance between those you owe," Dad suggested. "Tell each one you'll be paying a little every week. They'll probably say okay. And after this, borrow money only when it's really necessary, and check with me,not your friends, regarding that."

Sighing, Mark nodded.

HOW ABOUT YOU?
How often do you borrow money—a dollar here or a few dollars there? Do you borrow other things—pencils, books, clothes? As soon as possible, pay back any money and return anything you’ve borrowed. The Bible says it’s wrong to borrow and not pay back. You’ll be a happier person if you learn to work for and wait for the things you want.

TODAY'S KEY VERSE: (Romans 13:8)
Owe no one anything except to love one another.

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