A DEBT WE CAN'T PAY BUT CAN TRY

Abe Lincoln got himself up to the ears in debt, and Mr. Lincoln was a tall man. He had entered a business venture with a friend. Soon, through faults of both partners the business went under and the creditors came calling. Mr. Lincoln was honest and up-front. He went to his creditors and, in his words, he told them, "if they would let me alone I would give them all I could earn over my living, as fast as I could earn it." It took Mr. Lincoln seventeen years to make the final payment on what he called the "national debt." (National Debt-let's not even go there.) However, we have a debt, that no matter how hard we work at it, we will never get paid. But, we keep trying out of gratitude. Our debt is a debt of love. We owe everything we have and are to the love of God. We owe Him the price of His life. We pay our debt by giving to others as God gave to us. Now, we probably won't be called upon to put our head on the chopping block for a brother, though, perhaps, we should be willing to; so we should be more than willing to give something a whole lot less sacrificial--our goods; "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?," (1John 3:17). If we can see a fellow Christian in need and do not respond with our material possessions, we are making no effort to pay on our debt of love. We have an opportunity to show our gratitude of our debt having been paid. Always in our annual Thanksgiving Service we give in a special offering to show our gratitude of all God has given us. This year at the Thanksgiving Service we will with the offering help pay the freight on a container of goods and/or help with items to be sent to the orphanage in Haiti. For a Thanksgiving/Christmas project, we will be collecting items to fill the container for Haiti. What an opportunity to pay on our debt of love.