All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.
Summary: Being God is a bit like being a parent. As parents, we want our children to learn to do good and avoid doing evil. But we can’t live our children’s lives for them.
If you were God and wanted to help your children, would you be any different than a human father?
A human father has to make a choice. We can do everything for our children, in which case they will grow up to rely on us or someone else to do things for them. Or, we can teach them how to do things for themselves.
In God’s case, he chose to teach us what to do and what not to do. Granted, that hasn’t worked out so well.
First, there was Adam and Eve and their sin. Then, their son, Cain, killed their other son, Able. A few generations later, Cain’s descendant, Lamech, is at it again.
“Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for injuring me.
If Cain is avenged seven times,
then Lamech seventy-seven times.” (Genesis 4:23-24)
We humans are slow learners. As we continued to multiply and to populate the earth after the flood, some people were better at business dealings than others. Some became successful, and others remained poor. Did God stop wanting to help his children simply because they were not able to acquire wealth?
God does not play favorites because everything is his anyway. (Job 41:11) So, if God doesn’t play favorites, he must love the poor and rich alike. But here’s the pickle: If God steps in and solves the problem for all the poor people, nobody learns anything. God wants us to defend the rights of the poor (Proverbs 32:9). He wants us to be kind to the poor (Proverbs 21:13), and share what we have with the poor (Isaiah 58:7). But he can’t do it for us.
God values the poor. It is a testimony to the validity of the early church that all they would ask is that the poor would be remembered.
Application: Remember the poor as you go through your days.
Food for Thought: Why are the poor close to God’s heart?
I think God cares about the poor because He cares about everyone. If I had one wealthy child and one poor child, I wouldn’t love one more than another just because of their socioeconomic standing. God also cares about justice, which at times can be harder for the poor to achieve. Furthermore, God is compassionate and is moved by our suffering.
Matthew 9: 35 – 36: Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Psalm 10: 14: But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
Isaiah 1: 16 – 17: Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed and take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.
Proverbs 31: 8 – 9: Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Well said, Rich.
I appreciate the emphasis on God’s compassion. Compassion is a deeply personal feeling, but it is one that most of us can relate to. To know that our God sees us in our sin and the consequences of our sin but still loves us and has compassion for us is … reassuring.
I think Rich really gave a great response, and I appreciate today’s devotion.
What I thought about when I read this mornings devotion is that word “poor.” I think people tend to tie that into financial circumstance, but the Bible ties that into a condition of the heart. One can be “rich” in the world, but “poor” in spirit, and likewise, “poor” in the world, but “rich” in spirit. God is and always has been, concerned about filling our lives with His presence and our hearts with His Spirit. Regardless of where we are in the world, if we call upon His name, He will answer. When we help others, in whatever capacity, we are helping to cast out fear, so that His perfect love can abide.
John 7:37-38 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
Psalm 105:41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed through the desert like a river.
Great point, Chris!
Like so many things in the Bible, there is a dual meaning to the concept of being poor. As Jesus points out in John 3:5-6 we have to be born of flesh and of spirit. Life and death take on a dual meaning, too. Spiritual life and death depends on whether we are in relationship with God. As you point out, we can be “poor” in a material sense, but we can also be “poor” in a spiritual sense. Judging by Romans 3:10, “There is no one righteous, not even one;” which means we are all poor in spirit.
02-02-2024, Why are the poor close to God’s heart?
The spiritually poor, are all those living in submission to Jesus Christ, allowing Him to be sovereign in our lives as we live in the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Jesus teaches of the rich young ruler. Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18:18-27,
Sandwiched between Matthew 6:31-32 and 34 is Matthew 6:33, But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
In the Old Testament we see King Solomon who possessed greater wealth and worldly wisdom than any other person in this world. And his life with God was a train wreck.
Thanks Ron!
Solomon is a great example of being physically wealthy but spiritually poor. The Matthew 6:33 passage is a great reminder of what we need to do every day.
Thank you!