GIVE TO THE POOR LEND TO THE LORD

Proclamation:

“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to The Lord, and He will reward them for what they have done.” Proverbs 19:17  The King James version of The Bible reads: “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto The Lord; and that which he hath given He will pay him again.”

Explanation:

King Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, wrote these words under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Solomon told the people that charity is a principal of good heart.  It is charity to do for the poor.  That shows compassion, concern and sympathy for the less fortunate.  Solomon also encouraged the people to be charitable.  He told them that giving to the poor is the same as lending to The Lord.  That which is given to the poor, The Lord God will place it to the account as lent to Him and He will repay it with interest.

Application:

As Christians, we should be kind to those who are less fortunate than we are.  All of the blessings that we receive were not meant for us to keep to ourselves.  We are to pass them on and share them with others.  Remember the rich man who would not share anything with the beggar Lazarus who sat outside his gates. (Luke 16: 19-31)  That selfish rich man ended up spending eternity in hell.  The Bible says that blessed are those who have compassion for the poor, The Lord will deliver him out of trouble, preserve him and keep him alive, and heal him when he is sick. (Psalm 41 1:1-3)  The Lord looks upon us as if we treat Him the same way that we treat the poor. (Matthew 25:40)  The Lord keeps a record of how we treat the poor and what we give to them.  He treats that which we gave to them as a debt which He has to repay.  And, when He repays us He pays the debt in full, plus interest.  We get more from God than we give to the poor.  We are abundantly blessed for being a blessing to the poor because The Lord repays us.