LET NO DEBT REMAIN

WE OFTEN THINK OF OWING AS WHEN we have borrowed or taken something from a person. But can we owe a person something when we have not borrowed or taken anything from him? According to Solomon, we can. In fact, we are regularly indebted to the people around us, even if they do not lend us anything. We are in debt not only when others lend us what is theirs, but also when they deserve what is ours.

When it is in our ability to give something, and there is someone who deserves it, we are indebted to the person. To withhold it from him is to deprive him of the good that rightly belongs to him. At the heart of this exhortation is the revolutionary principle of love: that our neighbour is a co-owner of what we have. He has as much right to what we have as we ourselves. If he needs and deserves it, and we can give it, we must by all means pay that debt.

Not only must we discharge our debt, we must do it promptly. We should not say, "Come back later; I'll give it tomorrow" (v.28). Charles Bridges tells us, "Delay is an offense against the law of love." A little given in time is better than much given when the time is past. Moreover, knowing our sinful tendency to keep what we have for ourselves, the longer we deliberate over whether or not we should give, the less likely we would. Procrastination is only an excuse for saying "No" later, rather than now.

The verses here may refer to another category of people, namely, the daily-rated workers who must be paid at the end of the day. God has ample warnings against employers who hold back the wages of their workers. "Look!" James declares, "The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty" (Jms 5.4; also Deut 24.14-15).

At the very hour an employee deserves his pay, the money we hold in our hands is no longer ours but his. If God's ears are-turned towards the cries of unpaid workers, then employers and those who prepare paychecks do well to be conscientious about settling their debts on time. We may extend the application to the prompt payment of all other monetary debts.

The apostle Paul sums it up succinctly when he exhorts us to "let no debt remain outstanding" except the debt of love (Rom 13.8). We are not to owe anyone anything. At the same time, we owe everyone our love.

Is there a debt I need to pay?