If you owe someone money, it becomes more difficult to pay them back if you are incarcerated. This rather obvious truth was lost on judges in the early years of the United States, when citizens were routinely thrown into jail for unpaid bills. And once you were behind bars, the prisons – which offered truly wretched and cruel conditions – piled on the misery by charging for food and water. This was the fate of Founder James Wilson, coauthor and signer of the Declaration of Independence. He died a broken man at the age of 56 after a series of bad financial decisions which landed him in several debtor prisons. He once described to a friend how he was being “hunted like a wild beast” by creditors.

The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.

Proverbs 22:7

Under modern law an unpaid bill won’t land you in jail or turn you into an indentured servant, but in a very real sense the borrower is still slave to the lender. Debt will steal your peace and may destroy your future. America’s national debt, if it continues to expand, will lead to financial catastrophe.

As you pray today, ask God to help you and your nation’s leaders to be responsible and wise stewards.

Recommended Reading: II Corinthians 9:6-15