There’s A Debt You Cannot Pay

In today’s society a good credit score is crucial. Your score will determine whether or not you can finance a car or qualify for a home mortgage. And, if you do qualify, it will influence how much interest you will pay. Your score also will be a factor in the amount you will pay for your car or homeowner’s insurance. Did you know that? A good credit rating is worth working for. It can add dollars in your pocket.

The Bible says, “A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, Favor is better than silver and gold. (Proverbs 22:1). Having good credit is a reflection of a good name. It says a person can be trusted and that one does what he says.

Having said that, there are some debts that are so large that most people regardless of one’s credit rating simply cannot pay them. Some of us simply get in over our heads.

In Matthew 18:23-35, we read the story of a King who settled accounts with his slaves. One slave owed the King 10,000 talents. Do you know how that translates? It is equal to 150,000 years of wages. A credit score of 850 isn’t going to help here. In this case, the debt is impossible to pay. Out of compassion the King forgave his slave his debt.

Did you know we have a debt that is impossible to pay? We owe God perfection. We owe Him perfect obedience. We owe Him a life without sin. We can’t qualify. We can’t pay.

Just as the King in the parable forgave his slave, God forgives us if we accept Jesus as Savior. It is Jesus who pays the debt for us. He died on the cross to settle the account. The sins we committed yesterday, today, and will commit tomorrow are paid in full. The old account was settled years ago.

Once we realize the enormity of our debt and our inability to pay, we should run to the Son and have the account settled once and for all. As the gospel song says:

He paid a debt He did not owe;
I owed a debt I could not pay;
I needed someone to wash my sins away.
And, now, I sing a brand new song,
“Amazing Grace.”
Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.