In Nehemiah one we notice that he was the Cup Bearer to the king. I'm not exactly sure what this position entailed but it certainly meant that he was close to, and trusted by, the king. It must have taken years of background history for him to become established at the Cup Bearer's position.
He was close enough that the king noticed Nehemiah was troubled and sad (chapter two). For you, this is like President Obama personally being concerned about you, and wanting to know why you are troubled. It would mean you had that kind of high-flying job, which almost everyone else doesn't.
The whole book ends up with Nehemiah going back to Israel and rebuilding the wall, making the defenseless defensible. But he was a CUP BEARER, for crying out loud! He had no credentials for being a General, or Governor, or Architect, or Contractor.
What this shows us is that we can do a lot more than others believe we can do, or that we ourselves think we can to.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
RUNNING INTO CREDITORS
I get an email from a source that provides a "motivational quote of the day". I absolutely disagree with Today's quote
"Running into debt isn't so bad. It's running into creditors that hurts."
If you get into debt, you put yourself there. You have creditors because you put yourself into their hands. You borrowed because you felt you wanted something now rather than putting yourself to the discipline of working and saving for it. It will hurt when you must put off other desirable things because now the bank is standing at the head of the pay line. What hurts worse is when you do not honestly deal with your creditors and have law enforcement guiding you to the pay line. A good man (or a good woman, for that matter) always stands behind his commitments.
It is hard to find honor in letting someone cosign for your debt, for then you are introducing risk into their lives. You are dragging them into your pay line. There may be cases where this is acceptable, but I'll bet more are not acceptable than are.
Very few debts are "good" debts. Paying a mortgage rather than paying rent comes close. While you are sharing some of your wealth with the bank, with the rest you are slowly gaining title to the house and land. Car debt sometimes seems to be necessary, but many times it can be avoided (or at least greatly lessened) by buying a used vehicle - - or maybe just repairs, maintenance, or waiting and saving. School debt is more troublesome. Will the targeted occupation guarantee an income large enough to justify the debt? Doctors, Engineers and Lawyers may answer yes, few others can. Have you applied for scholarships? Are you willing to work and pay-as-you-go?
A quote like "Avoid debt if at all possible" would be a better quote than the one above, but I guess it wouldn't be as funny.
"Running into debt isn't so bad. It's running into creditors that hurts."
If you get into debt, you put yourself there. You have creditors because you put yourself into their hands. You borrowed because you felt you wanted something now rather than putting yourself to the discipline of working and saving for it. It will hurt when you must put off other desirable things because now the bank is standing at the head of the pay line. What hurts worse is when you do not honestly deal with your creditors and have law enforcement guiding you to the pay line. A good man (or a good woman, for that matter) always stands behind his commitments.
It is hard to find honor in letting someone cosign for your debt, for then you are introducing risk into their lives. You are dragging them into your pay line. There may be cases where this is acceptable, but I'll bet more are not acceptable than are.
Very few debts are "good" debts. Paying a mortgage rather than paying rent comes close. While you are sharing some of your wealth with the bank, with the rest you are slowly gaining title to the house and land. Car debt sometimes seems to be necessary, but many times it can be avoided (or at least greatly lessened) by buying a used vehicle - - or maybe just repairs, maintenance, or waiting and saving. School debt is more troublesome. Will the targeted occupation guarantee an income large enough to justify the debt? Doctors, Engineers and Lawyers may answer yes, few others can. Have you applied for scholarships? Are you willing to work and pay-as-you-go?
A quote like "Avoid debt if at all possible" would be a better quote than the one above, but I guess it wouldn't be as funny.
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