In our meditation yesterday, we identified some groups of people that God is jealous over. They are the widows, orphans, and foreigners. In Bible days, they all could be classified as poor, and God wanted them to be catered for. God sees it as a personal affront on His person when the poor are taken advantage of rather than helped. On the other hand, our text makes it clear that when mercy is shown to the poor, it is an honour to the Lord. Without fail, the harvest of honour will follow.
“We can say grace is the interest we receive from giving a loan to God.”
In reality, helping the poor is reckoned as granting a loan to the Lord. Proverbs 19:17 says, “Mercy to the needy is a loan to God, and God pays back those loans in full” (MSG). We can expect God to pay back in full with a lot of interest. When Hannah loaned Samuel to the Lord Eli prayed for her. “And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “The Lord give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was given to the Lord” (NKJV). That loan came with interest. Hannah eventually had three sons and two daughters. That number signifies grace. We can say grace is the interest we receive from giving a loan to God. This grace translates into several things. It does what money cannot do, it surmounts seemingly intractable problems, and it eventually delivers victory. By improving the lot of the poor you indirectly improve your lot. Good enough, you don’t have to stretch too long to find someone to shower mercy upon. And of course, you don’t have to wait till you have the millions. There is someone who hasn’t got what you have. Reach out!
