(Prov 19:17 KJV) "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again."

My wife and I were sitting on the front porch yesterday looking at the garden and I asked her, "What do you think pays a higher dividend? The banks and the stockmarket or a fruit tree?"

She replied, "The fruit tree! One seed and you receive more for less than the banks etc. could ever pay."

We live in a $$$ oriented society, what should be a Christians attitude re: charging interest when the Word says...(Ezek 18:13 KJV) "Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him."

Usury, IMO, is Babylons greatest tool of oppression. Babylon being the economy we live under.

-- Anonymous, April 05, 2000

Answers

Mark, Very interesting question indeed. And a difficult and uncomfortable one as well as you can see from the (lack of) responses you received so far. My wife and I have been struggling with issues such as this one as well although perhaps from a different perspective. Do we invest money in the stock market (if we ever have any left over), do we buy life insurance, and in general, do we store money for tomorrow? Jesus said on more than one occasion to trust God for daily provisions rather than our savings let alone the stock market. But then, we ask ourselves, Where does faith end and foolishness begin?

-- Anonymous, May 12, 2000

On the other hand, Jesus told the parable of the stewards, how they put the master's money to work for them and (one) produced 10-fold what he had entrusted them. All but one, who being a coward hid the money. The master condemned him and said at the very least, he could have invested the money and gotten a return on his investment.

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2000

All:

We are to give of the firstfruits to God and devote the rest to His service.

Part of that is caring for our own families. If we don't do that, we are worse than infidels. Today that means putting some aside for when we are old, because we don't want to burden our children.

Of course, if it comes to the point where we need their help our children have a responsibility to do it, as we had that responsibility with our parents.

John's reference is good.

We shouldn't bury it or hoard it, and definitely should never love it.

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2000

Oh, and of course, you know I disagree about Babylon being figurative.

I believe it will be a city, as the Scriptures say it will.

Usury is evil, I agree, and some in our government are evil, but it is the government God has given us and is allowing to do these things.

I have tried to be content wherein I find myself. As Paul said, I know how to be abased and how to abound. Remember Job.

Also, remember Job didn't have everything taken away and suffer for his unrighteousness, but because of his righteouness.

I hope God has given you sufficient fruit tress!

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2000