- There are blessings and curses with everything.
- “Wealth brings many new friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend” (vs. 4).
- “Many seek the favor of a generous man, and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts” (vs. 6).
- Wealth brings many friends, but they may not be the best friend. There’s a friend that sticks closer than a brother and one that loves at all times, rich or poor. That’s the kind of friend you want. It’s not a friend that money can buy.
- However, there is something money can buy.
- “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed” (vs. 17).
- Repayment from the Lord sounds like a good gift. He may or may not repay with money (which would only be so that we could give more), but whatever He chooses is what I want. When we give, it’s not to buy favor or to get a tax benefit or to receive some other return. And, we don’t give as some get rich scheme claiming some verses out of context about the Lord giving back to us. We give expecting nothing in return. We sow with hope of a reward of a harvest of righteousness.
- Switching topics…This chapter had a couple of verses on good sense.
- “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense” (vs. 11).
- “Whoever gets sense loves his own soul…” (vs. 8).
- What does it mean to overlook an offense? If someone does something that would offend or upset you, you forgive and forget. You don’t let it get to you. You don’t think, “He does this every time!”
- If there is someone who pushes your buttons, so to speak, someone who can get under your skin, who causes you to get irritable, ask the Lord to give you new buttons.
- My mother-in-law prayed that she would find her husband’s quirks endearing, not irritating. And the Lord answered that good prayer.
