Daily Devotionals: Indebted

0:00September 18th, indebted. How are your finances? Well, that's certainly one way to grab a person's attention, am I right? According to Bible-based financial coach Dave Ramsey, roughly 55 million US households are in debt an average of $14,000 or more. We have to ask ourselves why? Maybe it's because of a mortgage or college education, but consider this. In a consumerist society, we're told that our happiness is of utmost importance and attaining things or attaining status through things is what we deserve. But this is an incorrect, sinful, in fact, and very damaging belief, as Don learned. Don and his wife Bev struggled with their finances for many years, but he's here to share with us his true story and what turned it all around. On this unshackled, daily devotional.

1:05Although we would have denied worshiping material things, our growing pile of debt and bitterness towards each other were a testimony to our enslavement. We went on an extravagant vacation that took a long time to pay off. I was impulsive. At first, buying things that were supposed to save us money like a motorcycle to save on gas then came a boat and an antique car. My wife would get even with me by flying to visit her mother. Instead of discussing our debt, we nagged each other as creditors hounded us. The burden became so unbearable that I thought about disappearing and leaving the debts for my wife to pay. Instead, I went to see the pastor of a church whose outdoor sign said, with God all things are possible. I figured maybe God could help me with my debt. The pastor explained salvation. How Jesus had paid my sin debt at the cross, and I had to put first things first. Give my life to Christ and let him guide me through life. I surrendered my life to Christ that day and went home a new man.

2:06The next day my wife and I both went to see the pastor. After she prayed for salvation, we cut up our credit cards destroying our false idols. Jesus set us free to live life fully in Him. Material things will never give you the peace that comes only through the Prince of Peace. The Apostle Peter speaks of Jesus in 1 Peter 2.24, saying, Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness. By whose stripes ye were healed. Friend, if you were facing financial difficulties, could it be because you've set aside the one who paid your greatest debt on the cross? The debt of sin? When we try to contain Him and around outside our finances, or we prioritize things above God's desire for us, we're practicing idolatry.

3:06We're choosing to pick up our sin debt again rather than being indebted to our perfect Holy Savior. Will you consider this truth today? Unshackled, the longest running audio drama in history, airs on over 3,000 radio stations worldwide. Real people, real life stories, stirring dramatic accounts of hopelessness, and the hope that changes everything. This award-winning program grips the heart with compelling and relevant stories of transformed lives. Without Jesus Christ, we are all shackled by sin, by our wrong choices and selfish motives. But God is at work, and the power of Christ sets us free of our bondage. Listen to a new devotional every day, and don't forget to tell your friends about unshackled daily devotional.