{"id":474,"date":"2015-07-01T17:30:09","date_gmt":"2015-07-01T22:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=474"},"modified":"2015-07-01T22:01:39","modified_gmt":"2015-07-02T03:01:39","slug":"taking-on-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=474","title":{"rendered":"Taking on Debt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, \u201cSacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, \u2018Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.\u2019\u201d Hebrews 10:5-7<\/em><\/p>\n

I know a man, a good man, who took on a sizeable debt for a friend. What I mean by that is he borrowed the money, and he paid the friend\u2019s debt because the friend could not pay it. The friend was free after that. The debt had no more attachment to her. She was dead to it, figuratively and legally. It would be great to be the friend, wouldn\u2019t it? But it would be awful to be the guy who borrowed the money. He borrowed money to pay off someone else\u2019s debt, a debt he didn\u2019t run up, and then he worked how ever long it took to pay it off. It took three years, actually. That\u2019s how long he worked that he would not have worked otherwise, and I\u2019m not making up that timeline for effect. It\u2019s the truth. He worked three years in order to pay back the money that covered the friend\u2019s debt. I just want to be crystal clear about what happened.<\/p>\n

By anybody\u2019s measure, that\u2019s a heckuva friend. That\u2019s an entirely different deal than a rich person paying off a debt out of his or her abundance. You really couldn\u2019t even call that a sacrifice. But borrowing and exposing yourself to all the risks that accompany going into debt is a lot to ask. In fact, it sounds foolhardy, doesn\u2019t it? I wouldn\u2019t want to do it. Would you?<\/p>\n

I really believe we think of the Lord as a rich guy paying off our debt. Oh, I\u2019m not saying we wouldn\u2019t give all the right answers if asked. We\u2019d say he became lowly and poor for our sakes. We\u2019d acknowledge that he left all of Heaven\u2019s riches. We\u2019d stipulate to the incarnation and the cross, but I\u2019m not sure we really get it<\/em>. Let me just say I didn\u2019t get it until I spent some time thinking about the man who put himself out there and worked so hard to pay his friend\u2019s debt. I\u2019ve been a Christian a lot of years, but his act of kindness was a revelation to me.<\/p>\n

No, Jesus didn\u2019t pay our debt out of the riches of Heaven. It was a lot more personal than that. The Lord took on a debt he had to work off with blood, sweat and tears. In a recent podcast on prayer, Pastor Jack Hayford made reference to the Lord praying in the garden \u2013 ironic, isn\u2019t it? a garden? \u2013 until He was able to press through to God\u2019s will, to wit, rescuing the human race. \u201cPraying through\u201d is a term we used to use a lot. Praying through is good. Pastor Hayford talked about how good it is when we pray through together. Many of us have been in those situations and would agree it’s very good. He talked about the Lord taking the disciples with him to the garden, to watch and pray with him through that terrible night. But they were sleepy, and so the Father sent angels to strengthen him in his task.<\/p>\n

Isak Dinesen wrote a Gothic story about a sleepless young man who roamed the streets of his seaside town in the nighttime. One night he saw a lighted doorway at the end of an alley. He peered inside and saw a very ugly red-headed man counting money. Specifically, counting and recounting thirty pieces of silver. The young man told the red-headed man he could not sleep. It’s been many years since I read the story, but as I recall the red-headed man answered by saying all people do is sleep, the dolts. He remarked that they slept in the garden, the slackers. “I didn’t sleep,” he said. Chilling.<\/p>\n

It was really extra nice of Jesus to put himself through all of that and bail us out. After all, he was free and clear \u2013 we were the ones who were in over our heads.\u00a0There is something disturbing in thinking about these things, though, and that\u2019s God\u2019s expectation that we do likewise. About all I can say to that is, \u201cYikes!\u201d<\/p>\n

He paid a debt He did not owe.<\/em>
\nI owed a debt I could not pay.<\/em>
\nI needed someone to wash my sins away.<\/em>
\nAnd now I sing a brand new song,<\/em>
\nAmazing Grace.<\/em>
\nChrist Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.<\/em><\/p>\n

My debt He paid upon the cross.<\/em>
\nHe cleansed my soul from all its dross.<\/em>
\nI thought that one one could all my sins erase.<\/em>
\nBut now I sing a brand new song,<\/em>
\nAmazing Grace.<\/em>
\nChrist Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.<\/em><\/p>\n

O such great pain my Lord endured<\/em>
\nWhen He my sinful soul secured.<\/em>
\nI should have diedthere but Jesus took my place.<\/em>
\nSo now I sing a brand new song,<\/em>
\nAmazing Grace.<\/em>
\nChrist Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.<\/em><\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t give to me a loan.<\/em>
\nHe gave Himself; now He\u2019s my own.<\/em>
\nHe\u2019s gone to Heaven to make for me a place.<\/em>
\nAnd now I sing a brand new song,<\/em>
\nAmazing Grace.<\/em>
\nChrist Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, \u201cSacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, \u2018Behold, I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Mo02-7E","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":95,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=95","url_meta":{"origin":474,"position":0},"title":"In Defense of Childlike Faith","author":"lsimonds","date":"June 1, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cYou cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life\u2026\u201d Matthew 6:24-25 Some years back I vacationed in San Antonio with the pre-teen children of friends. We had a good time. We spent one day at Seaworld. Another at Fiesta Texas. We floated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2003"","block_context":{"text":"2003","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=84","url_meta":{"origin":474,"position":1},"title":"A Bumper Crop Year","author":"lsimonds","date":"January 1, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cDo not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.\u201d Galatians 6:7 Early in 1998 I decided to conduct an experiment. \u201cThat\u2019s a pretty specific recollection,\u201d you might say. \u201cThe experiment must have made an impression.\u201d Yes, it did. 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