God Has Honored the Poor…

It’s always a good idea to look at the verses before and after to get a good understanding of any particular scripture in the Bible. Before verse 9, James is speaking about those with divided loyalty… people who waver back and forth… people whose loyalty is divided between God and the world; those who are unstable in everything they do. So that tells me if we want to stop being tossed back and forth like a restless wave, we need to rely on God to show us what’s best for us. Verse 10 threw me off, here’s what it says…”And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them.” At first, I made the mistake of thinking ‘rich’ as material wealth (‘rich’ could be a lot of things… great relationships, perfect health, beauty, etc.). But my question was that if someone is rich and relying on their money and the things they possess, how has God humbled such a person?

I’m not a Bible scholar. I never went to seminary. But Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. I asked God for wisdom (it’s funny, because I’m in the segment of scripture that tells us to ask God for wisdom, and He will lavish it upon us –James 1: 5). I was thinking about these words in yesterday’s post…

“Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you poor, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence upon Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.”

Getting back to verse 9, the Holy Spirit showed me that the word “poor” is referring to those who have some kind of barrier between them and the world, not just poor in finances. And just like yesterday’s post, He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence upon Him. God is giving a new dignity to the poor and the not-so-influential people of this world.

Not a long post today, but again you can take heart… if you’re poor, God has honored you!

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