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TheDiscipleMD

Like me, if you believe in a Supreme Being, no matter what faith,  you have probably spent a lot time and energy petitioning for divine help. Most of the time, our petitioning could be classified as  a form of ‘begging.’ Not that there is anything wrong with being a ‘beggar.’  The scriptures, as recorded in Samuel, tell us that the fate of beggars can turn out to be very positive.

“He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory…” (1 Samuel 2:8)

Yet, society has attached a negative connotation to the word beggar, and most of us have a tendency to look down, at least a tiny bit, on street beggars that we come into contact with and on the poor in general.  I don’t know why that is except to say that most often it is our lack of knowledge, and understanding of another’s situation and we somehow think they are responsible for their plight. And perhaps for many that is true. But each time I see someone who is in such dire straits and I am tempted to judge, I remember the words of King Benjamin, who preached:

“For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?  (Mosiah 4:19)

Indeed, King Benjamin was right; we do depend on God’s benevolence for everything.  When I think about his words, I ponder on the fact that I was born a beggar and will die a beggar. With that in mind, perhaps I should be more tolerant of others and their problems and their situations. Perhaps I should be more Christlike in my thoughts and actions towards those less fortunate. Perhaps I should remember that although all of us are beggars unto the Lord, we are also sons and daughters of God and that there is nobility in everyone.

Perhaps we should take upon ourselves both the attributes of a beggar, such as humility, but also the attributes of mercy and kindness that come from being a son or daughter unto the Most High. Perhaps we should remember each day as we rise,  that we are all ‘born again’ beggars now living in 2022!