Feed The Hungry

Good Morning,

Isaiah 58:10 (NKJV)
If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
Isaiah 58:10 (NLT)
Feed the hungry,
and help those in trouble.Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
Deuteronomy 15:7-8 (NKJV)
“If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs.
Matthew 25:35-40 (NIV)
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"

Thursday is Thanksgiving. It is a holiday that is traditionally celebrated by giving thanks for all that we have in this country and culminates in a feast for a gathering of family and friends. Now, for most of us, this is exactly what will happen. We will come together and we will do all that is supposed to be done and we will eat a huge meal. That is a very good thing, of course. I must say that for me, personally, I love Thanksgiving. I love it because I love to cook and it thrills me to no end when people go away from my table satisfied and pleased with the food I've prepared. But, you see, I'm one of the fortunate among us in that I have the food to prepare and I get to share it with family and friends.

Now, I'm sure we're aware that there will be many on Thursday who will NOT have an abundance of food to prepare for themselves, their family, and their friends. There will be people who will have the exact OPPOSITE of abundance and will be hungry on that day of "thanksgiving" and will have little to give thanks for. There will be some whose children will be hungry that day.

We know that, I'm sure. I'm not saying anything new to any of you. Here's something to consider, though, as we prepare for our Thanksgiving feast and gathering. SOME of those people I mentioned are people you know. SOME of those people sat next to you at your church service on Sunday. SOME of those people have children in your Sunday schools and youth groups. Yes, SOME of those people have little or nothing in their pantries, refrigerators, or freezers.

The verses we read today tell us some things we ought to be doing for those in need. I know that there are many, many more verses that can be quoted which tell us that we're supposed to take care of the poor and needy among us. There are verses which tell us that we're especially supposed to be generous with our brothers and sisters in Christ. So, why these particular verses? I'll tell you the absolute truth about that. I have no idea. You see, I don't question the verses that come across my desk in a morning and what the Lord asks me to send along. I just "hold the pen" so to speak, and try to be as obedient as possible to write the words God gives me.

What can we do about those in need this Thanksgiving? Truthfully, probably not much at this late date. What we CAN do, however, is to be more diligent in seeing need for the future. We can make sure that there are none among us who will be hungry, not only on the next "holiday" we celebrate, but on any day of the year. We can ask questions and be more observant when we gather so we can more easily recognize a need that might not be spoken. We can listen more to what God tells us and asks us to do when He speaks into our minds about John or Mary or Pete or Sue.

What else can we do? That's easy. When we know or feel there is a need...especially to those close to us in our various congregations...we can open up our hearts and our pocket books and wallets and pantries and storehouses, and we can do what Jesus says is the right thing to do. "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these my brothers of mine, you did for me." THAT's what we can do.

We can do it today. We can do it tomorrow. We can be sure we do it every day that we see a need.

Love, peace, and blessings,

David