Interesting Times

May you live in interesting times.
                  --Ancient Chinese Curse

It seems the curse has been fulfilled.

You may be left at the end of the day, scratching your head and wondering, "What is happening to our world?" Welcome to the club.

Notice a common theme. From the riots in Athens, Greece, to the riots in London, England, to the (near) riots in Madison, Wisconsin, to bailouts and bank failures and bankruptcies, people are beginning to confront the ugly reality that we don't have as much money as we thought we did.

For generations, politicians have entered elected office bound and determined to convince everyone how generous and compassionate they are. So, they promise generous benefits to today's voters while deferring the bills for those benefits to people who are too young to vote.

And there is abundant talk of not "kicking the can down the road." In political discourse, a cliche has a very long shelf life. So we're told, "We must not kick the can down the road." "We should not kick the can down the road." "We will not kick the can down the road." Our leaders got together, compromised, and, you guessed it, decided to "kick the can down the road." Someone should flatten the can so it can be disposed of.

But hey, that's how we like it. Once a constituency starts receiving a benefit, they don't want to give it up. When pressed, you get riots.Nobody wants to pay more taxes, get less Social Security, or pay higher Medicare premiums. We want what we feel we're entitled to. So, in the first 10 months of this fiscal year alone, the federal government has borrowed over $ 1 trillion dollars (that's 1,000 billion). This year alone.

Here's a simple, godly principle for individuals and nations:
                                         --There is great dignity in living within your means.

Taking on large amounts of debt changes you. It changes you from a free man or woman into a slave. The Bible says, "The borrower is servant to the lender" (Pr.22:7). And you were made to be free, not a slave.

Well, you might guess there is an exception. You're right. Paul said it like this, "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another" (Rm.13:8).