Wednesday; February 8

As I was reading from The Proverbs the other day, I came across an interesting concept, “He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered.” (Proverbs 21:13). In essence, the notion is that when we fail to help others, people will tend to refuse to help us when we have a need. Not only is this true from an individual perspective, I also believe that it plays out in society as well. When we make it a point to help others, people are more apt to help us when we have needs. When we dig into our pockets to help those impacted by acts of nature, recessions or catastrophes; they will be more apt to reciprocate when bad things happen. It’s kind of the philosophy of what goes around comes around – but, this time with a positive spin. Not only is it morally good to help others in their time of need, it can be an investment in our own future. Jesus seems to echo this sentiment when He teaches, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7). This is true in so many ways: forgiveness, good will and charity just to name a few.

Are we laying up support for those times when things fall apart in our lives? No, this probably shouldn’t be the prevailing reason we help others, but it just might be a peripheral benefit that can make our lives much easier in the future.

Think About It!

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