Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses. – Proverbs 28:27 (NIV)
He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse. – Proverbs 28:27 (KJV)
Click here for printable verse cards: week-41-printable-cards
Theme: Giving and Stewardship
God expects us to share our blessings and to help those who are truly in need. Further, this week’s verse, Proverbs 28:27, reminds us that God takes care of us when we give to the poor, saying that we will “lack nothing.” Proverbs 19:17 is a good companion verse that expands on this thought: “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.” Our previous pastor in Lancaster, CA once put it this way: “We shovel it out. God shovels it in. But God has a bigger shovel.”
The last part of this week’s verse is equally important…if we selfishly hoard our blessings and turn our backs on those in need, we can expect to receive trouble (i.e., “curses”) in return.
Finally, it’s worthy of note that God also expects us to be good stewards of our blessings. We are not called to give blindly to those who would take advantage of our generosity or who would waste the blessings we’re sharing. To the contrary, His command is to give to those truly in need, and to do so both generously and with a happy heart.
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