CONCERN FOR THE POOR

How much concern do you have for the poor?  If you're like me, you see very few who 
are truly poor.  Unless you're watching TV and there's a drought in Africa or India, 
you're not likely to have dinner interrupted with the sights and sounds of those who are 
struggling just to live from one day to the next.  Unless you travel in the inner city, 
through the government projects, or in the mountains of Appalachia, you're not likely to 
encounter those who struggle just to keep the electricity running.  Seldom do we have 
the opportunities to minister directly with the poor.

The reason I raise this issue is that the poor are of deep concern to our Heavenly Father.  
Throughout the Old Testament, special provisions were made for the poor.  For 
example, "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 the 
alien. I am the LORD your God" (Lev 23:22).  In the New Testament, Christians are 
urged to remember the poor, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been 
pleased to give you the kingdom.  Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide 
purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be 
exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.  For where your treasure 
is, there your heart will be also" (Lk. 12:32-34).

We need to be concerned for the poor, even if they are not always visible or apparent.  
One area of growing concern that greatly affects the poor are state-run lotteries.  These 
government-endorsed gambling establishments prey on the poor.  Rich people seldom 
play the lottery.  However, let a large jackpot be offered and the poor will form large 
lines at the convenience stores just to buy a chance to escape the bondages of poverty.  
Such promises of instant wealth are a curse upon the poor and downcast.  The odds are 
always better at being struck by lightning than they are at winning the lottery.

Christians need to physically help the poor when the need is apparent and known.  
When the poor are not as visible, we need to stand up against those policies that makes 
getting out of poverty even harder—like state-run lotteries and unfair taxation.

Remember, we serve one who understands the plight of the poor.  "For you know the 
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became 
poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2 Cor. 8:9).
							
God Bless,

Leslie Chapman