Command 37 : Bring In the Poor | Day 253 See Potential in the Poor and Disabled!The baby screamed with pain as hot poultices were placed over her eyes. The so-called doctor told the baby's parents that this treatment would cure her eye infection, but instead it caused permanent blindness! The little girl might have been a "burden" to her family if it hadn't been for her Godly grandmother, who saw great potential in her. Her grandmother taught her to see the world through the eyes of her Creator, and after years of patient instruction, an extraordinary talent for music began to be seen in the little girl's life. The next time you sing Rescue the Perishing, Blessed Assurance, or one of nearly 9,000 other hymns written by Fanny Crosby, rejoice that a believer obeyed the principle meaning of Christ's command: Command Thirty-Seven: “... When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:12-14). Each of the four types of guests to whom we are to show hospitality represents a condition that requires outside help. A poor person needs assistance to buy basic necessities; a maimed person needs help to carry out the normal functions of life; those who are lame need help to walk; and the blind need guidance to avoid danger. Physical limitations are easy to recognize; however, what most people do not realize is that when one ability is deficient God compensates for it by increasing the potential of another ability. Paul explains how this phenomenon relates to the Body of Christ: “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. ... And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: and those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor ... . God hath tempered [mixed] the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked: that there should be no schism [division] in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another” (I Corinthians 12:18-25). God's exchange of things with lesser outward attractiveness for things with greater inward importance should motivate us to fulfill this command. For example, the poor have a great capacity for becoming rich in faith. (See James 2:5.) With this faith they can accomplish great things for God's kingdom through prayer. “... Who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?” (Exodus 4:11). Imagine the honor of serving a meal to Jesus. This takes place when we obey this command. “For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me ... . Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:35-36, 40). May all of our actions reflect the love of our heavenly Father, Who is “no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34). |
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