What Are the Poor Saying?

-


Scripture

Prov. 21:13 If you close your ear to the cry of the poor,
    you will cry out and not be heard.

Observation

The poor have always been among us and they are crying out. Jesus reminded us that he was present in the one who needed to be clothed, fed and visited while in prison. Wisdom reminds us that we are to listen to what the poor are saying. We are to hear their cries for help and we are to respond for the day will arise when we need help. If we do not respond and hear what the poor are saying, no one will listen when we too are in need of assistance.

Application

Walking through the streets of a large city it’s amazing all that the eye can see. It’s much different from getting in the car and simply driving from place to place, a bit insulated from the needs of those around you. While walking in the city one begins to see the needs of the poor on a different level. There are the homeless living out in the city square, crying out for help and justice. There are those who are begging for assistance on a street corner. There are simply the neighborhoods which “feel” different with the accompanying sights, smells and sounds.

Christ-followers are challenged to respond to the needs of these people and communities. The issues can be, at times, complex and God has gifted some to be able to wrestle with the complexities, while at the same time, we are simply called to be Jesus incarnate to those with needs!

The poor are saying that they need help. There will be a day in which we need help. Will we listen to the voices of needy around us today? Will we hear what they are saying? Minister today to the poor, and you are ministering to Christ himself. Listen!

Prayer

Lord, may I live and respond today in your love.  Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Off Your Ornaments

-
Scripture: Ex. 33:4 ¶ When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. Ex. 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Ex. 33:6 Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Observation: The people had sinned before God by making and worshiping the golden calf!  They had taken their golden jewelry — the earrings and other items they had gotten from the Egyptians and used them to create an idol.  Now, in an act of humility and repentance they were to take off all of their jewelry and ornaments.  It was a time of mourning over their sin and it included intentional action on the part of the Israelites.  Application: We don’t do all that well with humility and repentance!  It seems that we live in a time when we try to carry
Read more

Does God Value Boys More than Girls?

-
Scripture: Lev. 12:1 ¶ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Lev. 12:2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ¶ If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Lev. 12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Lev. 12:4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed. Lev. 12:5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days. Lev. 12:6 ¶ When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Lev. 12:7 He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement on her
Read more

The Advantage of Sanctification

-
Scripture: Rom. 6:22 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Observation: Two sides of life are presented here in great contrast.  One is a life of sin and enslavement to evil.  The other side of life is freedom which provides the advantage of sanctification (or holiness as some translate the word) that leads to eternal life.  The options here are a life of sin, slavery and death; or freedom, holiness and eternal life.  The advantage of holiness or sanctification is the benefit of the life of freedom.  Jesus died so that we might be made holy like him and this is something that is offered as a “fruit” or “advantage” right now.  The end is eternal life — but the living of life is that it can be lived out in holiness.  The next verse is really just an affirmation of the verse 22.  Sin will lead
Read more