Day 14 of 90 - Deut 12 - Deut 28:12

We read Deut. 12 - Deut. 28:14, and Deut. 15:7-11 spoke to me. It says, If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.

What disturbed me and enlightened me at the same time were these words: “There will always be poor people in the land.” It disturbed me because when I look at the success of a country like America, I wonder why and how can we still have so much poverty in our nation. even worse, how can we know there are people in our churches who are poor, and we, as God’s body, turn our eyes away?

According to a recent US Census (2018), 38.1 million people are in poverty. There are 329 million people in America, which means at least a tithe of the nation is living in poverty. Of those in poverty, 553,742 people experience homelessness on a given night. That means, of every 10,000 people, 17 are homeless. But what disturbs me is that we, as a nation, have spent $5.9 trillion on wars we didn’t have to fight in the Middle East and Asia since 2001.

Clearly, I am not a certified researcher but when I see these numbers, my heart breaks. Something has gone terribly wrong with the pulse of our priorities as a nation. But I can’t speak to every human in America. I can, however, ask us Christians: what are we doing about the poor? What plan do you have to contribute in some way, to eradicating poverty in your city?

I have been guilty of praying for God to help me amass enough money to purchase a car or an outfit, but am I just as adamant about asking God to lead me to the right agency to support our impoverished communities?