“One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his good deed.” Prov. 19:17
This verse lept out at me. When we think of helping a person in need, we don’t think of it as a prudent financial move. It’s usually thought of as a detriment, an expenditure, money gone, never to return. Here we see the opposite! We’re lending to our Father who is the true owner of everything we have. The ROI (Return On Investment) is bound to be life-changing, I’d lend to him in heartbeat! If he owns everything and is capable of reallocating wealth to the poor, why doesn’t he just fix the problem and give it to the poor himself? Rather, Jesus said, “The poor will always be with us.”
Remember when we were children, our parents would give us an allowance for doing chores they could do far better than we could? The point was to teach us responsibility. Likewise, this is meant to teach us generosity and humility. The secret is that God wants his children to partake in sacrificially giving to those in need. It’s like a family legacy! Jesus is, of course, the ultimate model. He went all the way and sacrificed his life. But look how the Father repaid him for it. God wants us to help run the family business. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!