This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

(upbeat music) - Welcome to our drive time devotion study through the book of
Proverbs. We're taking a look at a chapter a day, a little bit different than we
usually do in drive time devotion. Instead of looking at a chapter a week, we're
looking at a chapter a day and picking out a verse or two from each day and
reading the rest of the chapter individually during the day.

Proverbs chapter 19, the verse I've chosen to talk about today is Proverbs 19
verse 17. That verse says, "He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord and he
will reward him for what he has done. " God cares about the poor.

He desires for us to be like him, to develop the eyes and the heart and the
compassion that God has. And God cares about the poor. Compassion is simply
wanting to help those in need.

God wants to help those in need and he wants us to have that same kind of heart,
that same kind of attitude. Now the question is, he who is kind to the poor
lends to the Lord. The question is, who are the poor in your life?

You don't have to travel far out of where you live to find those who are living
in poverty, who are in need of help. Like I'd encourage you to regularly break
out of whatever bubble you might be in and join a mission team that's going
somewhere close or somewhere far away. But in joining that mission team every
once in a while, I would encourage you also to not slip into the habit of having
compassion only for those who are far away, of thinking that the poor only means
somebody else, somebody elsewhere, somebody that I can't really touch as a part
of my daily life.

There are people that we encounter daily who are in desperate need. What about a
grieving friend who's experienced a significant loss? Or your coworker who's so
spiritually poor that they continue to choose the world's way to satisfy their
need for God?

Or the person that you come across on a daily basis who is trying to make ends
meet but just can't quite seem to make it. Who has God been tugging on your
heart about? All of us have in this moment a sense of what God has given us.

He's given us our possessions. He's given us faith. He's given us whatever
health you have.

He's given relationships that are in your life. And all those are gifts from
God. And this verse reminds us of that.

He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord. It's a reminder of the fact that
you're just lending back to God what is already his. Now in the fact of lending
it, it means we're not going to hold it for long anyway.

It's not ours to keep. We only have it for the few years that we live on this
planet. But it's interesting in this verse that there's this idea of God has
given it to me for a brief amount of time.

But when I give to others, especially to the poor when they're in need, it's as
if I am lending it back to God. It's quite a picture. The incredible thing about
this picture is God gives it to me and then I take what he gave to me as a gift
and I serve someone else.

And in essence, that's lending back to God. And God promises me a reward for
doing that. What an incredible deal.

What incredible grace. In God's economy, two plus two equals a lot more than
four. You might remember the story in the New Testament of the widow's offering.

She gave just what was called a mite in that day, a very small amount of money,
a couple of pennies. And in giving that small amount, Jesus honored her for her
generosity. The little she gave made an incredible impact on this world.

You might remember the miracle and mark of the fish in the loaves that a boy
gave just a few fish in loaves and Jesus took what was offered and he multiplied
it so it fed the 5,000. The point is, it's not how much you give. It's that you
give.

Whatever is offered to God, no matter how small it might seem to you, is going to
be multiplied in amazing ways to meet the needs of others and to be reflected
even in rewards all the way throughout eternity. Rewards in your life, rewards
in the life of other people. You don't do it for the reward.

You don't do it for a selfish reward. You do it for the reward of honoring God.
You do it for the reward of taking whatever he's given to you and using it to
help someone else.

You do it for the reward of the joy that comes into your life. Truth of the
matter is, whatever God has given to you is a gift. And that gift is not meant
just to be held onto.

It's a gift that's meant to be shared with others. So as we pray today, let's
pray specifically that God would give us wisdom in knowing how to share that
gift. Our Father, we look at what we have in our lives, whether it seems like a
lot or a little right now.

And we take a moment right now to recognize that it's a gift. It's a gift from
you. And we want to treat this gift in the best way possible.

And so God, would you help us to know how to use the gift in our own lives?
Would you help us to know how to share the gift, to give to others? Help us to
understand, God, what you've taught us about giving to the body of Christ.

Help us to understand what you've shared with us in your word about giving to
those who are in need. And Lord, as we give and the joy come for the giving, I
pray that you'd help us to recognize that it's because we're like you. God,
you're a giving God, you're a compassionate God.

You care about the poor. And so I pray that you'd help us to be giving and
compassionate and care about the things that you care about. We pray this
together.

In your name, Jesus, amen.