Proverbs 19:17. He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
And then it was our lazy-day Saturday! Oh what a wonderful way to relax and let all the Christmas excitement cool down, before it rachet’s back up for the New Year’s Eve celebrations next week. Yes, we do an awesome amount of celebrating between Christmas and New Years, and we do need to get a li’l break in between, contemplating on Jesus, so that we can handle it all properly.
So, before we get too lazy, (smile) let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer. With all sincerity and truth: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’
And as always, if we were sincere in our prayer, the peace and calm of God will soon be flooding our spirits, bringing us closer to God, and putting us in a better place today. However, let’s not only think about ourselves, but also a class of people in which our world sadly abounds when there’s absolutely no need for so many. We’re talking about the poor. And yes, Jesus noted that we would always have the poor with us, after Mary anointed Him with an expensive bottle of fragrant oil, and His disciples complained that it was a waste of money. (Matt. 26:11)
And I like what this commentary says about the verse. ‘It’s often used to highlight that while caring for the needy is a continuous duty, it doesn’t negate the immediate importance of Christ’s presence or God’s ideal of a just world without perpetual poverty, referencing Deuteronomy 15:11 as a source for His command to care for the poor.’ And what does that verse say? ‘For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thy hand wide (freely) unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in the land.’ (Deut. 15:11)
Oh my people, the commandment to look after the poor could not be made any clearer, but the problem today is that we have too many poor when we also have such an abundance of wealth. It just doesn’t sync up. It means that we are not opening our hands as freely as the Lord desires, and that’s a cardinal sin, for all through the Bible the Lord warns the people, to look after, the widows, orphans, strangers and the poor, because at one time they were in those positions. And the truth is that many of us who are now wealthy or fairly well-off, were once poor, but we apparently forget those times and refuse to do more than we’re currently doing.
But please, let’s remember these wise words of Cousin Sol in Proverbs per the topic. ‘He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and that which he hath given will he pay him again.’ (Prov. 19:17) Or, according to this translation: ‘One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed.’ There again, we see how wise and important it is to look after the poor and hurting in our society. And as we said earlier on, the hurtful part is that we currently have so much wealth in our society that the billions of people who are poor and hurting should not be that many.
Most likely we will never eradicate poverty until Jesus comes back and sets up His kingdom, but right now there are way way too many suffering from want and lack of the basics; food, shelter and clothing. Even in the big, supposedly rich metropolitan areas of our world there are countless homeless people, living in the streets, in parks, and some lucky few in shelters. And all are not just lazy wastrels, many of them have had jobs and families but due to circumstances beyond their control, their fortunes have slid to where they are no longer able to support themselves. And this is a sad situation made even worse by the worldwide strife currently engulfing our world.
Then there are the numerous charities, supposedly set up to help the poor and hurting, constantly begging for money and food. To tell the truth, sometimes I don’t even want to go to the post box and collect my mail, because I know the majority of it will be entreaties from several charities for donations, some of them I don’t even know. And I do my best to share my treasure, but even if these charities are helping some, this should just be a stop gap measure, not a permanent way to solve the problem.
A problem which stems from too few having too much, and too many having too little, and which continues to assert the truth that man’s inhumanity makes countless millions mourn. But all we can do is share what we have and then pray for those who are poor and hurting. So, in closing, let’s put that last aspect into action, using this prayer from the Prayer Cards issued earlier this year by the In Touch Ministries.
Please pray with me: ‘Lord, please comfort the poor in this world, and pave the way for change. I’m grateful for everything You’ve given me, and I want to share what I have. Show me how I can ease suffering in Your name. Help me make sacrifices so others will have enough. Please take what I give and multiply it to bless many. Above all, may each one who receives physical sustenance recognize Your LOVE and come to know You as their Saviour. We Pray this in Jesus’ name! Amen!’
And having offered up that prayer, let’s take a moment on this lazy-day Saturday after Christmas, having recently enjoyed so much of God’s goodness, to ponder what we have and how we can share some of it with others who are much needier than us. Remember when we give to others, we lend to the Lord, and He will repay us eventually. Much LOVE!
…the prayer card wisely advises…let Christ’s LOVE flow through you in a river of giving…your heart will be blessed in the flood…
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