FEBRUARY 26
Psalm 41:1, “Blessed is the one who considers the poor!”
You know the story. The fictional character, Ebenezer Scrooge, was described by Charles Dickens as “a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!” Despite his considerable personal wealth, Scrooge underpays his clerk, hounds his debtors, and disregards the needs of the poor, as he lives cheaply and joylessly in the chambers of his deceased business partner. Not surprisingly, he detests Christmas. When two men approach him on Christmas Eve for a donation to charity, he sneers that the poor should find work, or else die to reduce the surplus population. His last name now serves as a byword for greed and misanthropy.
It takes little effort to live like Scrooge. We are born sinners, and in sin we’ve a propensity to look out primarily for our own interests. Sin makes us selfish. In “looking out for number one,” there’s little desire or inclination to consider the needs of others.
It took three visits by three spirits to change the heart of Scrooge. They opened his eyes to the error in his ways, both with respect to what might have been, what was, and what would be lest he change. Scrooge begs for another chance, promising to alter his ways, and finds himself in his bed on Christmas Day. An overjoyed Scrooge then commits to being more generous and compassionate.
It takes far more than that to change the heart of a selfish sinner. Nothing less than a born-again experience through faith in Christ can work to do that. The psalmist understood God to be a giving God (Psalm 41:2). That reality has been visibly demonstrated for all to see in the sacrifice of God’s own Son for our sins. Jesus works not just to forgive us, but to change us that we might freely give, even as we’ve freely received (Philippians 2:1-10). Happy are those who consider the poor, for in considering them, we are more like Jesus, who said, “It is more blessed to give, than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
One of the most Christlike things you can do is to be considerate of the needs of others.
Application Questions: Why does God want us to consider the poor? Think back to before you were saved. How selfish were you? How has Jesus worked to change you? How does his example work to encourage you to be more considerate of the needs of others (Philippians 2:3)?
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