“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.’” – Leviticus 23:22

Question for the day:  How are we, as Christians, to deal with the poor and disadvantaged?

God has always had a plan to care for the poor and marginalized.  If you read the scripture above, and also the entire book of Leviticus, you will notice that this plan did not include the government.  Unfortunately, the government had to become involved in welfare and such programs a couple of generations ago, when we, the people, fell down on our God-appointed responsibilities.  In this passage, He refers to “Your land.”  It has always been the calling of God’s people to care for those that couldn’t care for themselves adequately, and it always will be.

Why do you suppose this is?  I don’t pretend to know the mind of God, but this is the way I see it.  If I am doing what I am supposed to do, caring for these people out of my own provision and assets, then it is a constant reminder to me that those assets were given to me by God himself.  I can lie to myself and say that “I created this,” or “I worked hard for that,” but if I am honest, I can say that I have these things because God has been gracious enough to give them to me.  The education, the opportunities, the job – all gifts from God.  And He expects me to use part of what I have been given for the glory of His kingdom.

So that is why I think God is so adamant that I work with the poor – to keep me honest and to remind me that I am a child of grace – EVERY DAY!

Our First Nicaragua Mission Team leaves on Saturday.  I say first because we have two teams going this year – Praise God.  These servants of God will spend the next week building homes, worshiping, and living out the gospel with some of the poorest of the poor.  Please let’s keep them in our prayers while they are gone:

Toni Bowden

Michael Cox

Nate Dauphin

Abby Gosdin

Daniel Gosdin

Sandy Gosdin

Wade Griffith

Rick Howell

Madison Miller

Mason Wingo

Heavenly Father,

We come to You on behalf of our Nicaragua Team today.  We pray that You provide safe passage to them as they travel.  We ask that they be covered by Your gracious wings for the entirety of their trip.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal Himself in magnificent ways, and each will be conformed to Your image more distinctly as they seek to serve You.

In Jesus’ name we pray,

Amen