Proverbs 6:1-5
“My
son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge
for a stranger, if you are snared in the words of your
mouth, caught in the words of your mouth, then do this, my
son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your
neighbor go, hasten,] and plead urgently with your neighbor. Give
your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber; save
yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the
hand of the fowler.”
When the Psalmist
tells his son not to put up security for your neighbor, he is telling the son to
not be your neighbor’s guarantee for his debts. And more so do not do so
for a stranger it is not wise to put your reputation and assets at risk like
that. I experienced this when I was helping a young man in our church
that had a large family, and he and his wife worked in the business. He
needed a large sum of money to close a deal that would put him on easy street,
and I agreed to give him the money. What I did not know was his wife was
having an affair with one of the workers nor did the young man. He told
me he would sell me 10% for my investment and it looked as if I would get my
money back and more. Not two weeks had passed and a day worker fell off a
ladder, and he found out about his wife’s affair and moved out of the house.
It went from bad to
worse when my young friend did not know he was being sued and a judgment was
given to the day worker, and his deal fell through because of the lack of funds.
Now, why did I share this, for the reason that I only owned a small percent of
his company and I was not brought into the lawsuit? That is grace! We forgave the debt and
moved on with our life, we even moved from that area a year later. Many
years later I got a call it was from the man I had helped and he wanted to send
me a check. I told him the debt was forgiven and to use that money for
his new family and business but this I knew when I invested in him, he was a
man of integrity. I do not doubt that he slept better the night the debt
was paid. Jan and I have used those
funds to invest in others.
The times we have
been burned were when we let our emotions get ahead of our prayer life.
In the area of money and friends and neighbors, one needs the leadership of the
Lord. Wanting to help is always a good thing, but it may not be the best,
let me explain. When you are putting at risk a significant asset to bail
someone out, why are they in a mess, is God trying to get them to look to Him
for what is needed and you just took on a role God never planned for you?
If so, you have messed up, and your good intentions may cause harm. All
that Jan and I have is a blessing from the Father, we learned early to work and
save, and never made a large salary but God has blessed us with more than we
could have dreamed.
Today one needs to
be very careful for we live in a time where ones want become one's needs.
And many a person out of kindness has delayed or interfered with God’s plan for
that person. As a parent and grandparent, we need to be especially
careful in this area.
From the Back
Porch,
Bob Rice
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