Dear Father, I remember a couple of years ago when I would be sent on errands without any money to purchase groceries, while explaining to the vendor that payment would be made shortly. I would walk the streets rehearsing speeches and summoning the courage to face the vendor. I wanted to appear comfortable with an assignment I dreaded. Oh, how I hated initiating debts! Apostle Paul said: “I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.” I wondered: he owed them no money, so why did he speak of being a debtor? While some debts arise from our consumption and may instill shame in us, there are also debts that result from the need to do more than we already do. These create a burden of responsibility and are directly related to the fulfillment of our purpose. An outstanding obligation has a way of creating unrest, perhaps even more than meeting a creditor after the due date when the funds are still unavailable. Such an obligation is a blessing when we submit to its demands and fulfill it, for it becomes a disgrace if we are called upon to give what we do not have in the season that we should. I now understand Paul’s perspective in regarding himself as a debtor. Yet, in contrast, we often live as though the burden of purpose creates no unrest in us. If freedom were a bird, we would gladly soar on eagle’s wings, forgetting that an obligation awaits-- a moment when we will be required to give, whether we have prepared ourselves or not. #LettertoGod #obligation #responsibility #purpose #debtor