Proverbs 28 Enough for Us; Abundance for Others

Much is said in this proverb concerning money, specifically, wealth verses poverty. It addresses the treatment of the poor (verses 3, 8, 27), the methods of acquiring wealth (verse 8) as well as poverty (verse 19), the attitudes of the unrighteous rich (verses 11, 22, 25, 27) and the faithful poor (verses 6 &11), and the results of amassing wealth – you might say, storing up treasures on earth (verses 3, 8, 11, 20, 22, 25) verses one who doesn’t – you might say, stores up treasures in heaven (verses 6, 11, 25), to mention a few.

I dare say none of us reading this has any idea of what poverty is. I was greatly convicted over much of what I read in preparation for this devotion, especially about my attitude towards the poor. One commentary addressing verse 27, “He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses”, pointed out that often we not only fail to look for others needing our help, but we actually turn away from them. He went on to say that we even justify it on the grounds that there are too many demands for our giving. Though I have no doubt that God would have us be discerning with the money that He has entrusted to us, I think that God would rather I ere on the “generous to the poor” side.

John Piper put it this way, “The great danger of riches is that our affections will be carried away from God to the gifts……God is not glorified when we keep for ourselves what we ought to be using to alleviate the misery of unevangelized, uneducated, unmedicated and unfed millions……God increases our yield so that by giving we can prove our yield is not our god…….’God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work’ (2 Corinthians 9:8) Why does God bless us with abundance? So we can have enough to live on and then use the rest for all manner of good works that alleviate spiritual and physical misery. Enough for us; abundance for others.” (Excerpts from Chapter 7 Money - John Piper)

Lord, by your grace, give me Your attitude toward money. Enough for me; abundance for others.