“Haven’t I written for you thirty sayings about counsel and knowledge, in order to teach you true and reliable words, so that you may give a dependable report to those who sent you? Don’t rob a poor man because he is poor, and don’t crush the oppressed at the gate for the Lord will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them. Don’t make friends with an angry man, and don’t be a companion of a hot-tempered man, or you will learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare. Don’t be one of those who enter agreements, who put up security for loans. If you have no money to pay, even your bed will be taken from under you. Don’t move an ancient boundary marker that your fathers set up. Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand in the presence of kings. He will not stand in the presence of unknown men.”Proverbs 22:20-29 Good things to start off the New Year with. We are to treat others with respect, especially the poor and oppressed. The second verse in Proverbs 22 says, “The rich and poor have this in common: the Lord made them both.” So if the Lord is the creator, and He is, then why would we want to separate those who seem oppressed or poor? We should respect them, love them, and if there is a need there, to be there to help them in their need, by teaching and guiding, and whatever help the Lord puts on our hearts. We are not to make friends with someone who is angry. How true! I have heard it once said that if you put and mild man and an angry man in a room for a while, both will come out angry. Let’s be careful no to get tangled up in the ways of hot-tempered and angry people. Let’s only buy what we can afford. I know that not many can even get some necessities that they need unless they borrow, yet we must be careful to live within our means. We live in a society where even the poorest are richer than most of the people on earth. But let’s not get entangled in the pressure of debt, thinking that we need to have what everyone else has. It too, will be used up and we can’t take it with us. We are to be honest about property lines, and about everything that belongs to us, and that which does not belong to us. Let’s work for the sake of family, faith, and skill. Let’s be a people who may have to live in a way that will not bring us into failure because of our heavy debt. Let’s not practice how our country is practicing. Let’s give to the Lord out of the Love we have for Him, and give to others as the need exists, and the capability of our giving is with us. Let’s recognize that every day we stand in the presence of our Lord, and He is the One we are answerable to. He is the One who sees what we think we do in secret. He is the One who knows the intent of the heart behind every action we make. He is the One who listens to what comes out of our mouths, because what comes out of our mouths reveal the intents of the heart. Let’s make 2021 a year that regardless of how it is played out on the national or worldly front, it will be played out on the Godly front in our lives.
Barnabas Man 