There are many ways that we, as followers of Jesus Christ, can let our light shine. We can impact our culture, if we will consider that we are on a mission. And one of the ways that we can do that is through caring for the poor.
Listen to this statement made by a man named Zechus. He had recently come to be a follower of Christ. And after making that commitment, listen to what he said, in the book of Luke chapter 19, verse eight. And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord. Behold Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor and if I have defrauded anyone at anything, I restore it, for full.
This was a man who had wealth. And he was determined that in following Jesus, he would care for the poor. Now, this is important for you and I to learn today. We are a blessed people. And because we are, we should always be looking for ways to help to meet the needs of others. Physically, many people are experiencing poverty. Spiritually, there are many who are living in poverty, and we need to be the ones who care about others.
Think about caring for the poor, as we see it in the scriptures. First of all, it was commanded in the law. The Lord made it very clear that if there were poor people in the land, that they were to be cared for by others. Secondly, in the book of Proverbs, it was given as a sign of wisdom. If you act wisely, you will care for the poor.
And then in both the Old Testament and New Testament, we see that caring for the poor is historical. We see examples of people who gave to the poor. The believers in Jerusalem were noted for their generosity to those in the congregation who had needs.
And then, of course, we know that in the Old Testament prophets, there were many rebukes given to the nation of Israel because they didn’t care for the poor.
And of course, in the gospels, caring for the poor, was taught by Jesus and later instructed by the apostles in the epistles.
And so with all this in mind, let me encourage you today to be mindful of the poor. Think of some way that you can reach out to someone in your life.