Take on the debt, pay it forward

The other day I mentioned to a group of people that they should think about adopting a country. Not any country. We have friends in India, Guatemala, China, Thailand and other places so the suggested list is "defined." I joked that we were not asking them to take on the "national debt" of those countries, but just to pray for people there and our friends who minister there.

As I think about it more, I think I may ask them to take on "debt" because it is a helpful, weighty and biblical picture. The Apostle Paul said we have a continuing debt to love. We "owe" unbelievers the gospel. He said he had an "obligation both to Greeks and non Greeks." As I read that it causes me to think that maybe we are called to take on this debt to love.

How? Through consistant prayer, through service, through giving, through going, through sending, through reading, through writing, through emails. I am sure you can think of other ways.

For me, I do not think I can just look locally and ignore my global debt. It is a global village we live in and the economy of the kingdom is global.

One other thought that propels me. Men and women came here to share the gospel because they knew they had a debt. They were called to fill up what was lacking in Christ's afflictions. Namely the taking of the gospel in word and deed to those who needed it. They paid it forward. I should too.

So I am confessing today that I have not thought much of my obligation to love those who are over there and I am thinking about adoption and debt: Mine and a country's.

Blessings