Good evening, Samara.
I guess the trail I took with the ideas below prompts me to say something more about money. I have no idea, Samara, how you manage what little money you earn and call your own. But my own opinion is that a 13-year-old Christian girl is not too young to begin practicing the principle of giving tithes and offerings—if she doesn’t already. Some choose to respond, “I can’t afford to do that!” But I think it’s just a sound, tried-and-proven practice for all believers who desire every part of their lives to align with pleasing and worshipping God.
I’m anticipating a very thick and congested work week with the weather warming and drying some. May you have a blessed week. Good night.
Love, Tua.
We recently touched on a similar idea back in Proverbs 20:12 where the LORD is presented as the Maker of both eyes and ears. Here He is presented as the Maker of both rich and poor. But we could probably insert lots of other combinations and still come up with the same essential meaning. For example we could read into the message men and women, boys and girls, tall and short, black and white, deer and elk, dogs and cats, birds and bees, etc.—“The LORD is the Maker of them all.”
Now, let’s give some attention to this rich and poor classification. If the LORD is the maker of both, does that mean He has predetermined some to be born rich and some to be born poor? I think it simply means that the LORD is the Maker of people—no matter what their financial status may be. Of course, there can be a lot of valid reasons why some people are well off financially while others are not. To be sure, we are all supposed to be seekers of God—and all seekers of God will be givers—and all givers who do so with righteous motives put themselves in line with God’s blessing. After all, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). This has to be part of God’s plan for blessing poor people, by blessing other people with more blessing than they need so that they can share some of their overflow of blessing with people not as blessed. Verse 9 of our Proverbs reading communicates this idea this way: “A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.”
Here’s a question to add to the discussion: Does giving to the poor or those in need only involve money, food, or stuff? I think not. It can and should include one of our most valuable possessions—time. Think about it.
One thing is sure, it is better to be an upright and blessed poor person than to be a crooked, self-centered, and non-blessed rich person. Here are a few verses from Proverbs to support this principle: 15:16; 16:8, 19; 17:1, 16; 19:1. If you took time to look, you could probably find many more.