Perception and Rescue – Proverbs in Practice
And now, Christmas, former procrastinators! How did it come so fast? If you’d like a refresher on our “traditional” Christmas Calculations, see Christmas Timing Strategies – Keep in Step with the Spirit. You may find it helpful especially this year when Thanksgiving and Christmas Day are closer together than usual.
This is a particularly good season to ponder our next proverbs.
“Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.” Proverbs 22:9.
“Eye” is what strikes me here. Not a bountiful hand or tongue that bestows gifts physical or verbal, but a bountiful eye. With our eyes, we see. We observe and perceive. Do we take the time to see others? Or do we pass by in our busyness at work, on the street, even at home? Then, are we gracious in how we see? It’s easy to be judgmental about why someone is in need, or to question their actual need. But a bountiful eye, is full of grace and mercy and wisdom. After we see, we immediately respond within and express outwardly. Do we walk quickly away, telling ourselves we’re short on time and ability to help?
“Bread” stands out because it’s a necessity. “Poor” stands out because this proverb indicates I have necessities I can share. May we perceive with grace.
“Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, ‘Behold, we did not know this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?” Proverbs 24:11-12
A hymn says “prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” I could also sing “prone to excuses, Lord,” because that’s how I sometimes move away from the God I love. I put Him off. This proverb says plainly that we are responsible to help those who are being taken away to death. It could be babies, the elderly, the infirmed, the disabled, the persecuted, the lost. What God asks us to do and how is up to Him. We respond.
Dr. Erwin Lutzer writes of a gentleman who told about being in church in Germany during World War II. He remembered hearing the trains rumble by during the service, trains the congregation knew were carrying Jews. He sadly reported that they heard the whistles. They heard the trains. They heard the cries. They sang louder.
Am I guilty of singing louder when I should be listening to God and surrendering to His direction?
Our God has looked on us with a bountiful eye and we are blessed. This month we celebrate the birth of Jesus who came to rescue us. During our time on earth, He works through us to rescue others here.
How does being blessed by a generous God help you perceive others?
