Proverbs 21.13 says, Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard. Most listeners and viewers of these devotionals are Americans, Canadians, and British. And in these and most other countries where English-speaking Bible students tune in, our proverb presents a very rare situation, especially when we think of the issue of hunger among the poor. Even the poorest among us are far from starving, with few exceptions. Malnutrition in our modern world comes from food choices rather than lack of food, or from drug addiction, or things related to what is termed mental health issues. There is some debate, but you'll find most studies tell us that more than half of welfare recipients at any given time are just overweight, and few go hungry. And if they do, it's not due to the lack of food, but to other variables like those we already mentioned and things like abuse in the home. The fact is no one in modern so-called first world nations like America, Canada, United Kingdom, go hungry unless there's some very extreme variables involved. A homeless man or woman with schizophrenia or devil possession. They might go hungry. Or it could be someone purposely starving themselves with the conditions called anorexia and bulimia. Drug addicts suffer malnutrition. But again, it's all self-inflicted. And these people won't take food offered to them. These examples that I'm mentioning are not what our proverb is talking about. The reality is I've never run across anyone actually starving due to poverty, not in all of my years of ministry. We've had people stop in at our local church or call and even email asking for handouts. We offer to take them to a restaurant for an immediate hot meal and then to run them to the grocery store afterwards to buy groceries. I've done this numerous times over the years and not once has anyone taken me up on that offer. They always want cash. In other words, they aren't hungry. They're hustlers. They're looking for churches where the pastor has a head as soft as his heart. Our proverb presents a warning to, whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor. But that means what it says. This regards the truly poor, not someone acting like they're poor, not someone with crocodile tears, refusing real help and asking for money and gift cards. I can tell you without any fear of contradiction at any time, if a truly poor person came to BBF and was hungry, we'd have them fattened like the fatted calf in no time flat. My wife and other men and women at BBF who like to cook and feed people would jump at the chance to help out a truly needy individual, couple, or even a whole family, but it's just never appeared at our doors. Everyone who has shown up at BBF asking for help wanted money, and I could tell you story after story, but for time's sake, I'll leave it at that. All I can tell you is that I remember the way the Gibeonites fooled Joshua in Joshua chapter 9. And I just don't like liars and crooks. They steal what is intended for God's work and for the truly needy. It's wrong to reject the needs of the poor, but it is equally wrong to enable crooks and liars. And God's warning for both sides of this issue are clear. In Galatians 6-7, be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. That includes whether you answer the call for the truly hungry and poor, or you're a pretender ripping people off, pretending to be hungry and poor. Whether you're the poor or the provider, We should do all things in accordance with God's word, with the overarching goal of obeying, as Paul wrote in Romans 12, 17 and 18, recompense to no man, evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as life in you, live peaceably with all men. Amen.