A Gift for the Poor
Proverbs 14:21 It is wrong to say bad things about your neighbours. Be kind to the poor, and you will be blessed.
There’s something about this day, December 26th, that’s special. It goes back centuries, and with all my heart I believe God wants you to share in this special thing today. Let’s check it out.
There’s an old English tradition that happens on this day each year in the UK and many other former British colonies like Australia. It’s known as Boxing Day.
Long story short … in years gone by, the masters and the servants of the house would trade places, with the masters for one day serving the servants. Eventually it morphed and it became the tradition for tradesmen to collect “Christmas boxes” of money or presents on the first day after Christmas as thanks for their service throughout the year.
It’s a great tradition, because this trading of places recognises that privilege should be tempered with humility. Those blessed with much should in turn bless those with little.
On this day, December 26th, over twenty-five thousand ordinary people with wants, needs and aspirations just like you and me will die of malnutrition, many of them children.
So many of us have so much. Let me encourage you to make a pact in your family today to give something to those who have little or nothing.
I’m not talking loose change – I’m talking a gift that will cost you something. For a pensioner, that may be a small amount. For someone who’s wealthy, that might be a very large amount.
The thing that strikes me about God, from the beginning to the end of the Bible, is His incredible heart for the needy and the downtrodden and His insistence that our privilege should be tempered with humility – that those blessed with much should in turn bless those with little.
Proverbs 14:21 Be kind to the poor, and you will be blessed.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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