GLUTTONY PART TWO

Rom 13:8
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Christians must avoid useless expense, and be careful not to contract any debts they have not the power to discharge. They are also to stand aloof from all venturesome speculations and rash engagements, and whatever may expose them to the danger of not rendering to all their due. Do not keep in any one's debt. Give every one his own. Do not spend that on yourselves, which you owe to others. But many who are very sensible of the trouble, think little of the sin, of being in debt. Love to others includes all the duties of the second table. The last five of the ten commandments are all summed up in this royal law, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; with the same sincerity that thou lovest thyself, though not in the same measure and degree. He that loves his neighbour as himself, will desire the welfare of his neighbour. On this is built that golden rule, of doing as we would be done by. Love is a living, active principle of obedience to the whole law. Let us not only avoid injuries to the persons, connexions, property, and characters of men; but do no kind or degree of evil to any man, and study to be useful in every station of life.

Deuteronomy 15:7
If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:

This year (Jubilee or every seven years) of release typified the grace of the gospel, in which is proclaimed the acceptable year of the Lord; and by which we obtain the release of our debts, that is, the pardon of our sins. The law is spiritual, and lays restraints upon the thoughts of the heart. We mistake, if we think thoughts are free from God's knowledge and check. That is a wicked heart indeed, which raises evil thoughts from the good law of God, as theirs did, who, because God had obliged them to the charity of forgiving, denied the charity of giving. Those who would keep from the act of sin, must keep out of their minds the very thought of sin. It is a dreadful thing to have the cry of the poor justly against us. Grudge not a kindness to thy brother; distrust not the providence of God. What thou doest, do freely, for God loves a cheerful giver, 2Co 9:7.

Leviticus 25:35
And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.

Poverty and decay are great grievances, and very common; the poor ye have always with you. Thou shalt relieve him; by sympathy, pitying the poor; by service, doing for them; and by supply, giving to them according to their necessity, and thine ability. Poor debtors must not be oppressed. Observe the arguments here used against extortion: Fear thy God. Relieve the poor, that they may live with thee; for they may be serviceable to thee. The rich can as ill spare the poor, as the poor can the rich. It becomes those that have received mercy to show mercy.

1 John 3:17
But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

Surely we should love those whom God has loved, and so loved. The Holy Spirit, grieved at selfishness, will leave the selfish heart without comfort, and full of darkness and terror. By what can it be known that a man has a true sense of the love of Christ for perishing sinners, or that the love of God has been planted in his heart by the Holy Spirit, if the love of the world and its good overcomes the feelings of compassion to a perishing brother? Every instance of this selfishness must weaken the evidences of a man's conversion; when habitual and allowed, it must decide against him. If conscience condemn us in known sin, or the neglect of known duty, God does so too. Let conscience therefore be well-informed, be heard, and diligently attended to.

Today I was thinking of "shopping" as an excessive appetite, but of course, the word "shopping" isn't in the Bible. I can't help but wonder what God thinks of those of us who shop to excess. Then we wonder why our credit card bill is so high and why we can't ever seem to get out of debt.

Wouldn't it be nice to have our debts ending every seven years? Not having any interest charged to us cause we are Americans? But then, when I think about our debts being cancelled every seven years, I am sure God knows that now adays people would owe so much that it would be next to impossible to cancelled them all. Could that be one of the reasons we are not under the Mosaic Law since Jesus died for us?

Is there anyone of us who have went out and willingly contracted debts, then after a few years realized we couldn't pay anymore? So, we just stopped paying them. As we can see from today's study, we are most certainly in the wrong. We aren't supposed to spend what we owe to another on ourselves and we have to pay what we owe to everyone. Maybe we need to go back and get those "forgotten" bills out and get them paid.

Why did we go with the scriptures that we have used for today? Because it looks like we have been instructed to take care of the poor and our neighbors before thinking of going in debt. Oh I know what you are probably thinking, these people are poor because they refuse to go out and work for a living or they just like living off others and of course the most famous saying of all, "charity begins at home." Show us in the Bible where it is our place to decide these things about others.

Let us now think about being a "cheerful giver" so that God will cheerfully give back to us a 100 fold.

God's Blessings to each of you,
rECj/LJG

SOURCE: Kings James Bible, Easton's Bible Dictionary