"For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me." Jesus, recorded in Matthew 26:11
Imagine walking up to a poor person in some large metro downtown and bringing them this message. "God wanted you to be poor." Just throw a guess out there as to how well that message would be received. That doesn't sound like a loving, caring God, right? Why would God want anyone to be poor? We might not have any difficulty giving thanks to God that He provides far more than we need in life, but we'd probably have a tough time giving thanks to God that He made us poor, if He happened to do so.
Let me toss a question out here for us to think about. What if God, working in this sinful world, actually does find it helpful to have poor people among us? What if God wants the people of this world to recognize that they have been given much, and therefore, much is expected to be given from them, and so He provides the poor as the means by which His people develop and grow in generosity? I know, that seems strange to our way of thinking, but it actually does seem to fit somehow with how God often works in this world.
In Old Testament times, God gave the command to His people that they weren't to harvest their fields all the way to the edges, but were to leave the edges for the poor of the community. Likewise, they weren't to go back into their fields to see if they missed any of the harvest for the same reason. God created His people to work in such a way that those who had plenty would intentionally provide for those who had less. And, as we see in the words of Jesus above, it's as though God knows and expects that we will always have the poor among us, for us to show care and compassion toward.
Does God want some to be poor? In a sense, I think we often forget that, absent God's grace, we all begin at the level of poor. God, in His grace, gives to us, and how much He gives is up to Him. So we shouldn't think of it that God wants some to be poor, but that God does indeed give extravagantly to some, but always with the expectation that they are looking out for those to whom He hasn't given quite as much. That truly does seem to be a godly thing.
Imagine walking up to a poor person in some large metro downtown and bringing them this message. "God wanted you to be poor." Just throw a guess out there as to how well that message would be received. That doesn't sound like a loving, caring God, right? Why would God want anyone to be poor? We might not have any difficulty giving thanks to God that He provides far more than we need in life, but we'd probably have a tough time giving thanks to God that He made us poor, if He happened to do so.
Let me toss a question out here for us to think about. What if God, working in this sinful world, actually does find it helpful to have poor people among us? What if God wants the people of this world to recognize that they have been given much, and therefore, much is expected to be given from them, and so He provides the poor as the means by which His people develop and grow in generosity? I know, that seems strange to our way of thinking, but it actually does seem to fit somehow with how God often works in this world.
In Old Testament times, God gave the command to His people that they weren't to harvest their fields all the way to the edges, but were to leave the edges for the poor of the community. Likewise, they weren't to go back into their fields to see if they missed any of the harvest for the same reason. God created His people to work in such a way that those who had plenty would intentionally provide for those who had less. And, as we see in the words of Jesus above, it's as though God knows and expects that we will always have the poor among us, for us to show care and compassion toward.
Does God want some to be poor? In a sense, I think we often forget that, absent God's grace, we all begin at the level of poor. God, in His grace, gives to us, and how much He gives is up to Him. So we shouldn't think of it that God wants some to be poor, but that God does indeed give extravagantly to some, but always with the expectation that they are looking out for those to whom He hasn't given quite as much. That truly does seem to be a godly thing.
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