December 27, 2023 7:00 pm
Phillip’s father suffered from severe mental illness and had left home to live on the streets. After Cyndi and her young son Phillip spent a day searching for him, Phillip was rightly concerned for his well-being. He asked his mother whether his father and other people without homes were warm. In response, they launched an effort to collect and distribute blankets and cold-weather gear to homeless people in the area. For more than a decade, Cyndi has considered it her life’s work, crediting her son and her deep faith in God for awakening her to the hardship of being without a warm place to sleep.
The Bible has long taught us to respond to the needs of others. In the book of Exodus, Moses records a set of principles to guide our interaction with those who lack plentiful resources. When we’re moved to supply the needs of another, we’re to “not treat it like a business deal” and should make no gain or profit from it (Exodus 22:25). If a person’s cloak was taken as collateral, it was to be returned by sunset “because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in?” (v. 27).
Let’s ask God to open our eyes and hearts to see how we can ease the pain of those who are suffering. Whether we seek to meet the needs of many—as Cyndi and Phillip have—or those of a single person, we honor Him by treating them with dignity and care.
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Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.
I'm Kirsten Holmberg and I call today's reading, Meeting the Needs of Others. Well-being. He asked his mother whether his father and other people without homes were warm. In response, they launched an effort to collect and distribute blankets and cold weather gear to homeless people in the area.
For more than a decade, Cindy has considered it her life's work, crediting her son and her deep faith in God for awakening her to the hardship of being without a warm place to sleep. The Bible has long taught us to respond to the needs of others. In the book of Exodus, Moses records a set of principles to guide our interaction with those who lack plentiful resources. When we're moved to supply the needs of another, we're to not treat it like a business deal and should make no gain or profit from it. In chapter 22, if a person's cloak was taken as collateral, it was to be returned by sunset.
Because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has, what else can they sleep in? Let's ask God to open our eyes and hearts to see how we can ease the pain of those who are suffering. Whether we seek to meet the needs of many, as Cindy and Phillip have, or those of a single person, we honor Him by treating them with dignity and care.
Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Exodus chapter 22, verses 22 through 27. Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused and I will kill you with the sword. Your wives will become widows and your children fatherless. If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal. Charge no interest. If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has.
What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear for I am compassionate. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, please open our eyes to the needs of others. Move in our hearts so that we are inclined to give, to supply whatever they need in accordance with what you've given us. We pray this in your name. Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Kirsten Holmberg, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-12-28 02:51:26 / 2023-12-28 02:52:53 / 1
