Poor Choices

(Pro 19:17 KJV)  He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

I observed two acts of giving money away in the same day.  One made me angry, the other blessed my soul.  Both involved the transfer of funds from a person with more to a person with less.  One was wrong, the other was right.  The difference was what we are seeing in these verses and throughout Proverbs.

In one situation I watch someone who has no job and isn’t looking very hard come up and ask for money.  This person has a long history of asking for money and not having a job.  I have been the target in the past.  In over ten years I have never seen a penny paid back. 

In the other situation a man had been robbed.  He shared, not asking for help, but seeking our prayers and love.  He shared how the Lord was already beginning to work things out.  He was struggling before this happened.  People quietly slipped him aid.

I think we see a contrast in life and in Proverbs between the lazy in the previous verses and the poor in this verse.

So?  You are surrounded by needs.  Be generous and willing to give.  Be discerning.  If you give to the lazy you may leave the poor in desperate straits.  This is not a call to withhold but a call to wisdom.