The Poor

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

THE POOR

Prov 21:13

13 If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.

NIV

Our first thoughts would be our salvation is dependent upon us giving to the poor, but then that is simply not true. Then maybe God will not answer any of our prayers unless we listen to the needs of the poor and give to them, but that also is not true. Jesus said to ask anything in his name and the Father will give it to us. There was only one condition, to ask in the name of Jesus. There is only one condition for salvation, to confess with our mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved. So then how is our cry not answered if we shut our ears to the poor? It would seem caring for the poor would be a natural response to being a believer in Christ. But is there a principle at work here? Whatever we give, God gives us. If we give love, we get love. If we give mercy, we receive mercy. If we give grief or strife, we receive grief and strife. This is the seed faith concept Oral Roberts wrote about. Yet then we would have to say our entire relationship with God is dependent on what we do and want we do not do. The just seems to be all about saved by works, or rejected because of no works. Yet what about the poor? We would have to look at the poor in two concepts in order to make any sense of this proverb. First we would think of the financially poor, those without the needed money to sustain their lives a manner which someone deems less than normal. But then who is that? What is normal? Who decides which one is poor and needs their cry listened to? Is not that kind of poor relative? We are financially poor compared to a millionaire, or billionaire such as Bill Gates, or Bill Clinton, or Barak Obama, or Donald Trump. Someone who lives in a grass shack with a dirt floor and no electrify has much less than we do.  How do we determine who the poor are that we are to listen to their cry? What about our cry? Has the millionaire listened to our cry? So then this may not have anything to do with being poor in the sense of lack of money. Jesus made an interesting statement.

Luke 4:18-19

18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,   19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."   

NIV

He was quoting from Isiah, but Jesus left some of Isiah’s words off. It is interesting how much we learn from these words and all the words that Isiah spoke.

Isa 61:1-3

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,   2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.

NIV

It seems the poor are those who do not know the Lord. They are without the needed relationship for eternal life. The poor need to hear the good news. Jesus was anointed to preach the good news to the poor. Sure Jesus feed the five thousand, but also preached the good news to them. This is the concept many of the bible missions to the poor use. They feed them after they have heard a message about salvation. We have heard so much about having to meet the physical needs of someone before giving them spirit food. But the real need is that spiritual food which is the only food which leads to eternal life. Yet still does that mean if we are not listening to the spiritually needy, God will not listen to us? Perhaps if we are so self-absorbed and our life in Christ is all about us, and we have this us four and no more type thinking, then maybe God is not pleased with our style of Christianity and we are not being listened to. What about the give and it shall be given unto you? It seems it always comes back to doing the will of the Father. We should be giving in one way or another, that is then in opposition to storing up for ourselves. Either giving money to poor, but then who is the poor, or giving the good news to those who do not have eternal life. Is then our prayer life completely dependent upon our works? If that is the case, we need to get busy. If it is not the case, then what should we do? It seems we still need to get busy doing that which the Father has sent us to do and it has to do with the poor.