Giving to the Poor

 Jesus told us that we will have poor people with us always. There seems to be two reasons for this. Some people are foolish and/or lazy, so they are not diligent to do what they should do. Those people end up in poverty. Then, there are those who are really trying, but they are still poor because of the circumstances of their lives and their inability to get out of an economic hole. God cares for both of these categories of people, and so should we.

Proverbs has many verses that speak about helping the poor. I believe that shows God's love for them and His plan for us to help take care of them. (Proverbs 28:27) "Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed." This verse is a wonderful promise and a strong warning. That is why we need to spend some time considering these truths.

God's plan for the poor is that His people will give to them to help meet their needs. We see this in God's commands to allow the poor to glean in the fields. They could go behind the harvesters and pick up what was missed or dropped. It is a principle that we who are blessed with enough are to share it with the poor. Then, God promises, we will lack nothing. That sounds amazing, but I believe God means it. He will show us who to help, and if we help them, He will meet our needs well.

We must not close our eyes to poverty. We must try, as individuals, as churches, and as a society to do what we can to help the poor, no matter why they are poor. In the process we must should our concern for them and share our knowledge of how they can better themselves or find a better job. If we close our eyes to poverty and try to make it go away by ignoring it, God will curse us, as individuals, as churches, and as a society. That shows how serious God is about us all working together to address poverty. I hope this helps us all to have to right attitude and actions toward the poor and poverty.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Proverbs 31 and Ecclesiastes 1-2.