the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Voice of the Lord
Do not eat the food of a stingy man ...for he is the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost (Proverbs 23:6-7 NIV).
Some of the greediest people I have met were, at one time, needy themselves. One would think that in their present circumstances they would be sensitive to the needs of others. Instead, they hoard their plenty as they once clung to their little. Once they would boast of how much they would give if wealth were theirs. Now that they're wealthy, they are as stingy as before.
The motivation behind this curious behavior is fear. The issue is not just whether money is their god, but whether money is more trustworthy to them than God himself. Like the stingy man in the verses above, they're always worrying about whether they will again be poor. They fail to realize two things: first, God sustained them when they were poor. As Rabbi Sha'ul (Saul; i.e., Paul) knew so well: "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want" (Philippians 4:12 NIV). Second, they forget that, "he who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done" (Proverbs 19:17 NIV). This truth teaches the opposite of what they fear and should lead us all into generous behavior.
Greed can rule us whether we are poor or wealthy. Whatever your financial condition, the time to conquer stinginess is now.
...replace the fear that leads to greed with the trust in God's faithfulness that leads to caring generosity.
MW
The Voice of the Lord, Copyright © 1998 by the Lewis and Harriet Lederer Foundation, Inc. Published by Messianic Jewish Publishers, Distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources, www.messianicjewish.net. All rights reserved. Used by permission. No part of this article may be reproduced in print or on the web, or transmitted in any form, without the written permission of the publisher.
