Read
23The poor must beg for help,
but the rich can give
a harsh reply.
It's Wise To Be Patient
1It's better to be poor
and live right
than to be a stupid liar.
Reflect
This passage calls for us to reflect on our attitude toward our possessions and our riches. Whether we are rich or poor, we all have challenges.
If you don’t have enough, you depend on others to survive (whether by means of a social system or by friends and relatives). This takes humility. It’s not easy to ask for assistance. What’s more, it’s sometimes a challenge to remain honest, especially when there are pressing needs. But living honestly brings a satisfaction that riches can never bring.
If you do have enough and to spare, the challenge is how to respond to the poor. When you’re presented with an opportunity to share, do you look on it with joy and love or are you resentful? How you respond reveals your attitude to the poor. Do you feel superior to them? Pride can creep in and lead us to an unloving response. The rich too can be tempted to use devious means to become even richer.
Faced with these challenges it is so important to discover that God provides for the needs of his children. This will give us a balanced view of our situation. If we need money, then let’s dare to ask him to provide for us. If we have plenty, then let’s not forget the one who has blessed us. Let’s pray for wisdom in the management of these riches.
Respond
Lord, I am aware of my condition (rich or poor). I want to learn that you provide for my needs. I pray like Agur: “Keep deception and lies from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion” (Proverbs 30:8). Amen.
Gérald Emery
Born in Switzerland, Gérald Emery moved to Quebec when he was 18 in order to operate a dairy farm. Six years later, he went into the ministry, serving in Quebec City for six years and in Portneuf for nine years. In addition, he taught for nine years at the bible college (Institut Biblique du Québec) in Longueil. He has been pastor of a church in Gatineau since 2011. Emery holds a bachelor’s degree in theology (BTh) from Eastern Pentecostal Bible College, and he has almost completed his master’s degree, studying at St. Paul University in Ottawa.