Ah, what a golden nugget of wisdom from my daily reading…
Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse. – Proverbs 28:27
Many a curse? I wondered what the curses of hiding our eyes could be. I thought about my own history with hiding my eyes, before I learned to see. I thought about how I was a keeper. And it dawned on me that the greatest curse I have experienced from hiding my eyes is tied up in the first half of the verse: I was always in want. I was never in want in the true sense of the word; I was never in physical poverty or need. But in our English translation I was in want as in wanting. Always wanting more. I had all I needed and then some, yet I was always discontent, always striving for greater riches. The curse of hiding my eyes was poverty of contentment.
One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. – Proverbs 11:24
The curse of wanting is never satisfied; we can never reach a level of material richness that is enough. It is only when we let go and give freely that we are able to know true richness. When we stop withholding what we should give, our wants disappear. Discontentment cannot hold us when we let go of our wants. But we have to let go. We have to give.
Giving freely provides a blessing of freedom to grow in richness. Richness in gratitude and richness in contentment. And, oh, how it satisfies a parched and cursed soul. Have you experienced this freedom?
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Earlier this week Ann Voskamp provided a link to a story that is well worth your time to read – How to be the Rich Family in Church. May you be richly blessed.
In hope,
Shelli
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About Shelli Bourque