Serving
human needs are very important to God’s heart as Proverbs 19:17 says: He who
has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, and He will pay back what he has given.
Here is perhaps the clearest identification of God Himself with the plight of
the poor. The help they are given becomes God’s own debt to the giver. To help
the needy is so important to God, that He associates Himself with the poor by
taking their needs personally.
He promises
to repay those who care about the marginalized and show kindness to the poor.
Psalm 41:1-3 says: Blessed is he who
considers the poor; The Lord will deliver him in
time of trouble. The Lord will
preserve him and keep him alive, and he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will
of his enemies. The Lord will
strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed. Poor: that is, poor in health, the weak
and gaunt (Gen. 41:19). It is our obligation to shelter a homeless family, befriend a frightened stranger, visit a despondent prisoner, feed a
hungry child etc Christians are summoned to do these not only by words but in
deeds. The Lord Himself will repay us not necessarily with wealth and comfort,
but with the honor of reflecting His character by sacrifice we make on behalf
of the poor.
Do I Have An Obligation To Help The
Poor?
One may ask
do I have an obligation to help the poor. Yes, but not necessarily the way we
might think. In God’s economy, serving those in need is serving God Himself,
and failing to serve those in needs is failing to serve Him also. (See Matthew
25: 31-46). Jesus teaches that loving others means caring for them in the same
way we would want to be loved.
Christians
are commanded to help one another but we are also called to help those who are
less fortunate than we are. Proverbs 21:13 is among the most powerful
calls from God to help those who are hungry because “If a man shuts his ears to the
cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.” First
John 3:17 states that, if anyone has material possessions and sees his brother
in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Job
wrote, “I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had
none to assist them” (Job 29:12).
Serving Human Need (A Heart for the Helpless)
Those things closest to the
Father’s heart—the things that He views as precious—revolve around caring
for the needy and personal holiness (see James 1:27). God’s majesty
and power are best understood in light of His tender compassion toward orphans
and widows. When His children care for the distressed, their actions are pure
and faultless in God’s view because they reflect His heart. We can (and should)
evangelize, fast, study and pray, but our looking out for and defending the
helpless brings pleasure to God without qualification.
Of
a truth, it is in a believer’s best interest to give to the poor
because, “He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes
his eyes to them receives many curses” (Proverbs 28:27).
Helping the poor is actually an important command, as Paul told Timothy to
“Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and
willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as
a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life
that is truly life” (1 Tim 6:18-19).
Hence, is good that our hearts is established in this operation of helping
others and this is a timeless investment every good
Christian must have.
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WE MUST SHOW LOVE TO THE POOR AND THE FATHERLESS FOR THAT IS ONE OF THE HOLIEST FORM OF WORSHIP TO GOD
ReplyDeleteJames 1:27
DeleteReligion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
NIV. Thanks for the share brother.
Showing love to the poor is one of the very important things that our Lord expects from us. He said in Matt 25: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
ReplyDeleteEverything we do for each other, we do for christ.
So true, ministering to your needs, is worship to the Lord of glory. Thatwas so profound my sister. Thanks for the word.
Delete