was one of "divine intervention". In addition to that compelling element, I was fascinated by something else. In this true tale, the writer made judgments based on various external aspects of the other key players in the story. If you read about it, at the link above, I believe you will get my drift.
I thought about that in studying today's verses from Proverbs.
20The poor is hated even by his neighbor,
But those who love the rich are many.
21He who despises his neighbor sins,
But happy is he who is gracious to the poor.
But happy is he who is gracious to the poor.
Proverbs 14:20-21 (NIV)
"Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief...."
My pastor used that saying in his sermon two days ago. Have you ever felt someone was assessing you and finding you "lacking"? Has it ever been because of your financial status?
It's not a great feeling.
Obviously, we must exercise good judgment, without falling back onto gross generalizations, which is what happened in the amazing story I read this yesterday. Except for the restraining hand of Almighty God, influenced by the prayers of two righteous people no doubt, the writer could have been seriously injured or killed.
I remember a few years ago my older son went on this caper where he grew his hair out very long. I mean, it was longer than mine. I'd love to talk to him about his social experiment some time, to find out if people treated him differently than they do now.
My goodness, we judge so often on appearances! In his sermon my pastor remarked that if we, the congregation, could read all his thoughts, none of us would like him very much. I thought at the time that that is true of all of us. We all govern or allow the Holy Spirit to govern our errant minds and, to a certain extent, most of the time we all put on a "front".
If you are wondering what that has to do with this topic, the point is that who we are deep inside is what matters, not how we look, or how much money we have, or how our looks may or may not indicate our financial status.
Studying the actions of Jesus, He basically ignored people's wealth...or lack thereof. When he did refer to it, he linked his comments to the state of their heart. Examples: widow's mite, rich young ruler, Zaccheus, Lazarus/rich man, etc.
In studying about this, I came across a really excellent article about the teachings of the Lord on the rich man/poor man theme:
I hope each of you has a wonderful day, rich in blessings! Hubster and I are headed out to a Halloween outreach tonight with our church.
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