Today we read from these verses in the One Year Bible:
Job 28:1-30:31
2 Corinthians 2:12-17
Psalm 42:1-11
Proverbs 22:7
Let's look at the Proverb. It says that the rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender. That's why Jesus turned everything on its head when He taught us to CHOOSE poverty. That's why priests and nuns who take vows of poverty are flouting the whole system of the world and showing that God's kingdom doesn't operate by the same rules as the world that the writer of Proverbs is describing.
How is God calling YOU to poverty? Let's be clear - God isn't calling you to a state of debilitating poverty that hurts you and your family and brings disease and death into your life. But He IS calling you to adopt some of the wisdom of poverty into your life, like priests and nuns do. Learn to live more simply. Learn to give to your church, and maybe even more importantly, to the poor, out of what you would normally spend to pamper yourself. This doesn't mean that you should necessarily eschew ALL worldly pleasures - God created delicious food and wonderful aromas and breathtaking scenery for us to appreciate and enjoy. But that's not the GOAL of our lives. Our lives are to serve and love Him and love others. And one of the best ways we can do that is to take the kind of poverty practiced by St Francis seriously.
How can you live in the wisdom of poverty today?
God, thanks for teaching us not to be slaves to the rich, but to live simply and accept the wisdom of poverty.
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