Reading
- Wealth and Poverty - Prov. 3:9-10; 10:15; 11:4, 28; 13:8; 14:20; 15:16; 17:16; 18:11, 23; 19:4, 6-7; 22:2, 7; 23:4-5; 27:7; 28:6, 8, 11, 20-22
- Benevolence and Generosity - Prov. 3:27-28; 11:24-26; 13:22; 14:21; 18:16; 19:17; 21:13; 22:9; 25:14; 28:27
- Oppression of the Poor - Prov. 13:23; 14:31; 15:15; 16:8; 22:16, 22-23; 29:7, 13
- Industriousness - Prov. 6:6-11; 10:4-5, 26; 12:11, 24, 27; 13:4; 14:4, 23; 15:19; 16:26; 18:9; 19:15, 24; 26:15; 20:4, 13; 21:17, 25-26; 22:29; 24:27, 30-34; 26:14; 27:18, 23-27; 28:19
- Conservation - Prov. 21:20
- Surety for Another - Prov. 6:1-5; 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 27:13; 22:26, 17
Devotional
Today's reading discusses the important subjects of wealth, giving, and work, among other topics.
Wealth
Honor GOD with your wealth, with the first of what you have. Do this and you will be blessed to overflowing. Be careful not to put your trust in money or possessions, but place your trust in GOD. In the day of wrath it is righteousness and not money that will save you. It is better to be poor and fear the LORD than to be rich with turmoil. Wealth brings many friends but they leave when the money is gone. The LORD is the maker of the rich and poor man alike. The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender. Don't wear yourself out to become rich. Riches are temporary and they will make themselves wings like eagles and fly away.
Giving
A generous man will prosper and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. A good man leaves an inheritance for his grandchildren, but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous. He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and He will reward him for what he has done. If a man refuses to hear the cry of the poor, then he too will cry out and not be answered. A man who boasts about giving gifts and never gives them is like dark clouds and wind with no rain. He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.
Work
Let the sluggard look to the ant as an example—for it works tirelessly during summer with no ruler or boss watching over it, in order to gather its food at harvest. If you are lazy and don't work hard while you are able then you will find yourself in need at a time when you cannot work. Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son. The one who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment. The lazy man craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads to poverty.
Solomon said:
I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed.
(Prov. 24:30-34 NIV)
