WHY WOULDN'T YOU READ THIS BOOK?

Before my kids leave for school in the morning, we read and discuss a passage from the Bible.  Recently the scripture was Proverbs 11: 15.

He who is surety for a stranger will suffer, but one who hates being surety is secure.  

I explained that surety is collateral, something you put up for a loan to assure the lender that if the debt isn’t paid, then he can take the collateral/ surety as payment.   In ancient times, people could actually pledge themselves as collateral/ surety for someone else’s debt.  If the borrower defaulted (couldn’t pay) then the lender could take your stuff or even sell you into slavery.

The modern version of being surety for someone is called CO-SIGNING for a loan.

Being an educator, I followed up the explanation with a review.

Me:  So, do you understand what surety means now?

My 10 year old son:  Yeah----- RANSOM.

A pause.  A tilt of my head.  A nod.

There are people who say that the Bible isn’t relevant to our modern lives.  I think those people aren’t paying very much attention to what the Bible says.  Maybe they’re only listening to what people say about what the Bible says.

Today, there are a ten year old and a fifteen year old in central Alabama who already understand the danger of co-signing for a loan, apartment, or credit card.  Before they get their first jobs, credit cards, or checking accounts they understand the gravity of asking somebody to “just co-sign for me.”

That lesson in financial literacy didn’t come from a course in school, or a workbook on household economics.  It came out of this ancient book, written over thousands of years, by dozens of different authors, then translated, collated, and reissued multiple times as  holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.(2 Peter 1: 21)  

So if you don’t think that reading the Word of God is “relevant,” then you must be doing it wrong.

ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3: 16)

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

To hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

You can read more on Pastor Graves's personal blog at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com  .

If this message helps or touches you, please help support this ministry. Send a donation of any amount by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116