Members of a church had a large  supply of leftovers from the celebration of their 125th anniversary. They decided to give the food to the women and children in a nearby homeless shelter. As a chilling rain poured down outside, volunteers unloaded containers, one of which included a large cake. Someone remarked, “I hope today is somebody’s birthday.” A homeless woman replied, “Every day inside is a holiday.”

Jesus knew the experience of homelessness. He said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Matt. 8:20). Yet no one had more compassion for the poor.

James emphasised the need for believers to help each other materially. He wrote, “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?” (2:15-16).

We must help the spiritually destitute find a heavenly home by sharing the gospel with them, but we must never neglect those who are poor in this world’s goods. A heart for God will also be a heart for the homeless.

Compassion is love in action.

Author

vernon c. grounds

Topics

Our Daily Bread