(Mark 14:7 KJV) For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.He was not saying this was desirable, just realistic. That is because there are many causes to poverty and most of them are rooted in the actions of the poor. You can educate and redistrute income all you want, you will still have poverty. I will be looking at them in the order that I became aware of them as I read through Proverbs.
After absentee fathers, I think the biggest cause of poverty is sloth. I come to this conclusion because it is mentioned so many times in Proverbs. Many different words are used but they all have the idea that some people are just plain lazy and get the reward they have earned. This is like the third rail of discussions about poverty, but it is Biblical. Here is a verse that uses the word sluggard.
(Proverbs 6:9-11 NAS77) How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? "A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest"– And your poverty will come in like a vagabond, And your need like an armed man.So take a nap. Lean back and relax. You won’t need to hunt for it, poverty will find you.
One major source of poverty is an unwillingness to work. A warning though, don’t make the assumption that poor people are all lazy. It could be one of the other factors we are looking at. It could actually be beyond their control.
To be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.