November 8: YOU AND THE HUNGRY

How do you react to those people at the intersection in front of the Shopping Center with the sign “Will Work For Food”? Do you look the other way and avoid eye contact? Or do you yell “faker” at them because you heard that people had offered them a job and they refused? Do you give them $1 and say, “God bless you”?
People react differently. One of the worst things that can happen is to feel the sudden pangs of a guilty conscience and when that is over, just forget it. Remember that you don’t have to feel guilty because you have been blessed by God and live in a land of plenty. If you misuse your “plenty”, then you have good reason to feel guilty.
One truth the materialistic world seems to have forgotten is that God is the champion of the cause of the hungry. “Give generously” to the poor and needy is the instruction in Deuteronomy 15:7-11. “God loves the needy and gives him food”, says Deuteronomy 10:15.
If you are going to be a godly person, you must do something concrete about feeding the hungry. When Job had his problems and lost his wealth, his friends suggested that Job was being punished for not caring for the poor and hungry. Job’s prayer in chapter 31:16-17 acknowledges the expectations that a “man of God” should be doing something for the hungry.
God is so radical about this he even says, “If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat.” (Proverbs 25:21)
When you look at the church in the New Testament, it’s easy to conclude that the most frequently taken offering was to benefit the poor and hungry. Acts 11:29 said the church “decided to provide help” when they heard about the famine.
How often does your church receive an offering for the hungry? Does your church have a “Hunger Committee”? Are the children being taught to be caring for the hungry?

“Most of us in America are continuously filled, O God, even being stuffed.
Grant us the grace to share our bounty with the needy and hungry. Amen”