I have showed you all things, how that so laboring you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35)
What if you woke up one morning and had no place to call home any longer? What if the home and the family you had come to know, no longer existed in the way you were used to? What if the job you had for many years was suddenly taken away from you and there were no other jobs you qualified for? What would you do? What would you pray for?
We wander through our earthly existence performing day to day tasks as if they were part of a script. We do not deviate from them, we don't look left or right - only straight ahead at where the goal is. Our focus is on our own path. We tell ourselves that we can't afford to help others because we barely have enough for ourselves. We tell ourselves "someone else" will take care of it. Guess what? We are the "someone else".
Each of us has an obligation to look out for the one next to us. Our excuses are lame, at best! We trust in God to provide for us and he does - through a good job, an unexpected bonus, a sale at the grocery store, and many other blessings that fall on us. Do we thank him that we are not the woman on the corner with the cardboard sign? Do we thank him that we are not the one who just lost his job? Do we thank him that it is not our car broken down on the highway in the pouring rain? And when we've thanked him, do we even bother to do anything to offer a "blessing" to that person who we refuse to make eye contact with?
I realize that some of those individuals are "street hustlers" and make their living feeding off the charity of others. That's excuse we use - "I don't know if they're really homeless or just looking to make a fast buck." It doesn't matter whether or not they truly are in need - it is not our place to judge their circumstances. Our job is to help them if we can! Would it really set you back financially if you threw a five dollar bill out the window of your expensive car? Would it be extremely time consuming to stop and ask the stranded man if there was someone you could call for him?
We have become a society of one - our own little world is all we see because it's all we want to see. We don't want to let people in, we don't want to help those in need - we want to make sure that we have enough for ourselves and that's it. Imagine if Jesus had felt that way. Imagine if our destiny was hell and that there was no salvation for us because he had decided he didn't want to die for our sins - after all - he was sinless! He was not in need of salvation!
Whatever it is that you have, remember it was given to you by the Father. He gave it to you freely, most often without your asking. Be willing to give freely to those around you who are in need. Don't look for it to come back to bless you, do it because it's what the Lord asks of you! Enlarge your world - give!
