“Whoever multiplies his wealth by interest and profit gathers it for him who is generous to the poor.” Proverbs 28:8
Devotional Thought For The Day
We wish that we could observe this phenomenon immediately and without any obscuring variables. What is warned about – for those who want to keep their wealth and pass it on to their children – is the abuse of the poor by those who have means. There is nothing wrong with investing capital at the market rate of return, to those who are not under some kind of heavy duress. What is being referenced are the many ways in which the poor [people who are in desperate circumstances which threaten their very existence] are punished by higher interest rates, exorbitant fees, and punitive penalties. This is quite common among lenders today – justified by the supposed greater risk of lending to the poor. Financial institutions are notorious for doing this, and I suppose there are some circumstances in which it is justified. However, generally this is completely contrary to God’s instructions regarding godly and pious behavior toward the poor. The passage which advises us as to loving and God-pleasing behavior toward the poor is found in Lev. 25:35-37. It is worth contemplating.
I can remember my days as a young person just starting out, how cruel and heartless the business world often seemed. I can remember times even as a young pastor when I was compelled to help out poor and destitute people in negotiating with large, cold, callous, and impersonal creditors, trying to squeeze some reasonable concessions from them in view of the impossible circumstances these people were in. Much of this is simply viewed as “business as usual,” and the companies and the people who work for them are unaware of how displeasing this rapacious behavior is to God, and how much wrath and judgment they are accumulating for themselves. Individual Christians should also be aware of this, and rather than just going with the flow and assuming that the ordinary means of squeezing profit out of others is perfectly normal and legitimate, we should consider carefully all aspects of our financial dealings to insure that we are not abusing the poor or involving ourselves in something immoral.
On the positive side, there are many who have been won by God’s gracious generosity and love, and who have been reshaped inwardly so that they are “generous to the poor.” Often we have a subconscious assumption about the poor, that they have become such by their own behavior, whether laziness or foolishness, and so we close off our heart of mercy toward them. We may be fearful of rewarding such bad behavior and perpetuating it by becoming “enablers.” This is reasonable, and being generous to the poor requires a good bit of wisdom and common sense. However, the poor, regardless of how they got this way, are still in need of love, care, and compassion, and often with need of help in getting just the basic necessities of life – food and shelter. They may also need help in securing gainful employment and money management skills. The Scripture places a great deal of responsibility for the poor upon those whom He has richly blessed: “For to whomever much is given, of him much shall be required.” [Luke 12:48] This should be a sobering thought to all of us whom God has blessed with enough to have discretionary income.
God did not set preconditions upon us prior to providing us with His salvation in Christ Jesus. No matter how small those preconditions might have been, we would have been utterly incapable of fulfilling them, and wouldn’t have wanted to. No, God’s love, which is the model for our own love, is gracious and merciful, without conditions. Thankfully these attributes of God enable us to think honestly about how we have stewarded the resources He has given us, to repent of our selfishness and greed, and our self-justifications, and our comfortable abuse of the poor by “business as usual.” God has forgiven these sins – Christ died for them; and through His gracious and loving forgiveness He bids us to think differently, to behave differently, to actually love others, especially those in great need, the poor. In love, He warns us against thinking only of profit and having no regard for the effect our profit has on others. In this we are called to a much higher and nobler way of thinking and living. May His love enable and compel such decency, kindness, and generosity within us and from us.
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, we quickly learn that we have to look out for ourselves, and soon we are doing so without regard for others. We know that there are many who would take advantage of us and denude us of our wealth; and we tend to ignore the profits we reap by taking advantage of others. Forgive us for this inborn and conditioned greed and selfishness. Have mercy on those whom we have harmed. Help us to embrace the ways of love which you encourage, that we be generous in care and compassion toward others, and generous especially to the poor. We know how You became poor so that we might be rich through Your gracious forgiveness and salvation. Keep us from our fears of doing the same for the good of others. Amen.