In our very privileged society, how easy it has become to walk right past a homeless person without giving them a second thought. We justify it to ourselves that we shouldn’t give them anything because they may use it to buy drugs or alcohol. We hear stories about poverty in other countries and our heart goes out to them, but how quickly we forget their plight as we get distracted by Facebook or our brand new iPhone.
The reality is that God has a lot to say about the poor in the Bible and most of it is about how WE should be helping THEM. The idea of helping the poor was written right into Old Testament law. Look at the following verse.
Leviticus 19:9-10 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.
Of course we are no longer under Old Testament law, but the principle remains consistent between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
James 2:15-16 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
The difference is that in the Old Testament, it was part of the law while in the New Testament the scripture shows us that as a born again Christian it should become natural for us to want to do so. It falls under the “love thy neighbor as thyself” commandment. What are you going to choose to do?
Here are New Vision Community Church we have made a commitment to help the poor. If someone knocks on our door with a need, we give what we can. Who knows what our gift will be used for? We leave that in God’s hands. We have had countless new moms knock on our doors asking for hand-outs. Who are we to turn them away? We have also have programs that help the less fortunate in our community designed so that they may develop a new skill and hopefully some day become financially self-sufficient (To learn more about our missions visit our missions pages).
Join us and reach out to those less fortunate in your community. It isn’t always just about giving them money. Next time a homeless person reaches out and asks for help, try buying them a cup of coffee. A kind word and a hot drink on a brisk morning can plant a seed in a person’s heart whose fruit you may never see, but will someday flourish beyond what you could have imagined.
Proverbs 28:27 He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.