the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Our Daily Homily - Volume 2
Proverbs 19:17—He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord. (R.V.)
What a revolution would be wrought among us if we really believed this! We are glad to lend to our friends in a temporary strait, especially when we know that our money is safe and will come back to us with a substantial increase. To have an I O U is quite sufficient. But in the light of this test we are taught to look on God as the great Borrower. He comes to us, asking that we will lend to Him. In every needy one who deserves our aid the request of the Almighty may be heard asking a loan.
What mistakes we make! We think we keep what we hold and invest well. But we really keep what we give away. The best investments are the heavenly shares and stocks, which are found in the needs and sorrows of the poor. Will you not, my reader, resolve that you will begin to lend to the Lord in the person of those who need your help, whether for their personal necessities or the work in which they are interested? You are called to be a steward of God’s free gifts to you. You must be ready, as his almoner, to deal out his wealth. He will pay you for doing it, by giving you your own present maintenance; and one day He will say, "I was hungry, and you fed Me; thirsty, and you gave Me drink: inherit the place prepared for you."
Just ponder the magnificence of this promise: "His good deed will He pay him again." God will never be in your debt. He is exact and punctilious in his repayment. No man ever dared to do his bidding in respect to any case of need, and found himself the poorer. "Give, and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed down and running over shall they give into your bosom." Was not Ruth’s love to Naomi well compensated?
