Bail bonds, co-signed loans, contracts, vouching for character. Be very careful when doing these types of things. I might add investment schemes, get rich quick and guaranteed income/safety, doomsday provisions, survival gear. Since we can’t know our own heart fully, how can we know the heart of someone else?
So, the writer of Proverbs passes along some good advice. If you have already signed that document, do everything you can to make it right again. Everything! Get out from under the obligation. It matters little whether you are the lender or the recipient of the lending, that obligation is not healthy.
Lots of people understand this every month when they have to pay their bills and they watch the bank balance dip dangerously low. That pressure to stay afloat. Now imagine that you have co-signed a loan and that other person is beginning to sink. You might lose everything because of what they are failing to do. Double pressure!
Sometimes you inadvertently say something that obligates you. We see this in the political arena all the time. A politician makes a side comment to a friend, and then that comment becomes the story. It is taken out of context and they have to retract, redirect, reframe what they said.
As Jesus-followers we must be careful what other labels we attach to our lives. If we join PETA, for instance, then everything PETA does gets attached to us and consequently to Jesus. Right or wrong, that is what happens. Be careful of all other associations.
I want to die having been known as a Jesus-follower. My other connections are less important. I am a faithful husband, but being a Jesus-follower is of greater importance. I have some other ties that exist, but none that I would want to substitute for being a Jesus-follower.
If we make those other connections too strong, then we can become the prey sought after by another. No one wants to be on the wrong end of an arrow!
The Arnold Journey 