A verse in Proverbs always touches my heart to help those in need, “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will He (God) pay him again,” (Proverbs 19:17). There is great joy and satisfaction in helping the poor in Jesus name. We all have been blessed and should seek to follow this instruction from the Lord.
Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey wrote a book, “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.” In it these men make an interesting description of the world I would like to share with you.
“Consider the world as if it were shrunk down to a community of 1,000 persons:
In our town of 1,000
• 180 of us live high on a hill called the developed world;
• 820 live on the rocky bottom land called the rest of the world.
• The fortunate 180 on the hill have 80% of the wealth of the whole town, over half the rooms in town with over two rooms per person, 85% of all the automobiles, 80% of all the TV sets, 93% of all the telephones, and an average income of $5,000 per person per year.
• The not so fortunate group of 820 people on the bottom get by with $700 per person per year, with many on less than $75. They average five persons per room.
How do the fortunate group of hill dwellers use their incredible wealth? Well, as a group they spend less than 1% of their income to aid the lower land. In the United States, for example, of every $100 earned:
• $18.30 goes for food
• $6.60 is spent on recreation and amusement
$5.80 buys clothes
$2.40 buys alcohol
$1.50 buys tobacco
$1.30 is given for religious and charitable uses.”
Now the answer is not for the government to take the money and share it with everyone. The answer is to realize our blessings from the Lord Jesus and to develop a gospel, missions to evangelize this world, and a committed part to help the poor around us in His name. Remember what Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return,” (Luke 6:38).
This week, see who you can help in His name.
