Proverbs: Day 19 - Money vs No Money - [Chapter 19]

Jesus once said to his disciples that "you will always have the poor with you".  Poverty is a condition that is present in every single generation.  Some people will always be poor.  Some people will always be rich.  The rest will be somewhere in the middle.  Solomon's wisdom strives to point out that it doesn't really matter if one is rich or poor - what matters is the integrity of how one lives their life.  Take a quick look at these verses that illustrate Solomon's wisdom:

Verse 1: "Better the poor whose walk is blameless than a fool whose lips are perverse.

"Verse 4: "Wealth attracts many friends, but even the closest friend of the poor person deserts them."

Verse 7: "The poor are shunned by all their relatives - how much more do their friends avoid them!  Though the poor pursue them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found."

Verse 10: "It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury - how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!"

Verse 17: "Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done."

There is something noble about reaching out to the poor, but not out of a sense of pity or feeling sorry for these persons.  It's the right thing to do to help out those who are less fortunate.  Even more important, be careful about the accumulation of wealth.  As mentioned before, certainly we all need money for our needs, but beware of falling in love with it.  

Use common sense.  Share as you are able.