More Bling For Less Cha-Ching...Thoughts On The Debt Crisis

Silly sign. Serious problem. 

I saw this sign on my way back home from a conference in North Carolina. It caught my eye for several reasons. Initially, why is this country club lady in front of an industrial freighter & surrounded by boxes? And she isn't wearing any bling. They could have at lease photo shopped some gold teeth on the lady. But that's not the main reason I stopped in front of it. The overall concept of buying as much stuff as our money lets us get away with makes me sad. Kinda sick, but mostly sad. Debt is a temporary fix for a fundamental problem. This lady's fundamental problem appears to be that she is addicted to questionable shellfish from the Gulf of Mexico. (thats where this poster was)

On a serious note, the United States has just two more days to figure out the debt crisis. If a solution isn't reached then the United States will run out of money & default on it's loans. I'm not an economics major, but that sounds like pretty bad stuff. I have read so many articles trying to figure out why we are in this crisis & why no one seems to have a good plan of getting us out. Here is what I have learned:

Debt is tricky. Debt is complicated. Debt doesn't just go away despite all your hard work.

We all have debt. My debt includes what I owe for being selfish when my daughter wants the last piece of gum. The times I lie to avoid doing what I don't want to do. Responding in anger when my 2 year old moves at the pace of a 2 year old instead of a 12 year old in the grocery store. I get envious when someone gets more opportunities than I get & I secretly hope that they mess up. The broken motives of my heart & actions has accrued a massive debt of sin. No matter how hard I try to balance the sin to the goodness in my life, I still remain a debtor in the end. Not just a debtor, but an exhausted & hopeless debtor. 

Amazingly 2/3 of the worlds nearly 7 billion inhabitants are living with eternal debt. Going to bed at night hoping that their good work that day was enough to erase the bad they did. Or living in depression feeling like they can never overcome the demons in their lives. But, what good news we have for them! Their debt can be paid & their lives reclaimed. 

Reading the news about all the bills and proposal being tossed around in D.C. is a stunning reminder of the significance of what the Jesus did for me. I don't have to worry, dread or fear. No one is going to repossess my life or increase the interest I owe. I am free. I am loved. I am clean. My debt has been paid in full.

The economic issue that our government is facing is severe & warrants the Church praying for our leaders. It isn't an easy fix. Lets pray for divine wisdom for those in power. Lets rejoice that our debt has been paid in full. Above all, lets be messengers of the cross's message.

"Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe;

  Sin had left a crimson stain,

   He washed it white as snow..."

                          -Elvina M. Hall 1865