“But there will be no poor among you; for the LORD will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”DEUTERONOMY 15:4
When God’s people entered the Promised Land, each family was given a portion of land. These former tent dwellers, who had very few possessions, became property owners with land and the means of sustaining an income. And what God gave to them they were able to pass on to their children. If ever there was a land of equal opportunity, this was it.
God’s people had a fresh start, and He supplied all that was needed to sustain all His people. That’s why He said, “There will be no poor among you.” Obey the Lord, and you won’t need laws about cancelling debts, because you won’t have debts. You won’t have debts because no one will be poor among you. And no one will be poor because God will bless you in the land.
God provides all that is needed to sustain all people in all places at all times. So, where there is poverty, it is because no one fully obeys the Lord, it is not because God has failed to provide. We do not love God with all our heart, and we do not love our neighbour as ourselves, so God gives us laws to put a brake on human greed. God gave these laws so that the poor would find relief, and so that no one would be trapped in crippling debt.
What has God provided that you could share with someone in need this week?
Written by Colin Smith
Read by Sue McLeish
