Lending To The Lord

Lending to the Lord

Q: Fill in the blanks: “If you _____ _____ _____, you are lending to the LORD—and he will repay you.”

• a. give your tithe
• b. give your offering
• c. help the poor

Have you ever loaned something to someone and not gotten it back? Maybe you let your friend borrow your baseball mitt, and he lost it. Or you lent your sister two dollars when she forgot her lunch, and she never paid you back. Thankfully God is much better at paying back what you loan him.

Today’s verse says if you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord. It’s just as if you were doing it for the Lord himself. And he will repay you. Here’s what Jesus said: “I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me. . . . I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!” (Matthew 25:35-36, 40).

Sometimes it’s easy to look down on the poor, and that was true in Bible times, too. Jesus told the people that when they did these acts of mercy and kindness unselfishly for the poor or sick, it was as though they did it for him.

For You

You can do simple acts of kindness and mercy for the poor around you. But if these things are done with wrong motives, they don’t count. What is the right motive for helping others? Read 1 Corinthians 13 to find out. Then talk to your parents about one thing you can do to help the poor in your town.

Answer: c

If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD—and he will repay you!   Proverbs 19:17

(The Whole Story: Proverbs 19)