Christian Living

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“For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (1 Corinthians 4:7—NIV).

The story of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk. 16:19-26) shows us how the rich man missed a chance to be blessed by not minding the poor man.

We must remember that:
If God gives us food in a neighbourhood of famine, we can be rest assured that the hungry will come to our doors;
If God gives us riches in an environment of poverty, we can be certain that we will have to contend with big numbers of the poor peeping at our gates;
If God gives us land in a place of landlessness, we can be certain that squatters will come to share a piece of our land;
If God gives us water in an environment of drought, thirst will naturally drive people to our springs;
If God gives us a house and a home in a neighbourhood of houselessness and homelessness, we will wake up in the morning and find vagabonds lying at our veranda;
If God gives us a peaceful country, we can brace ourselves to contend with large numbers of refugees from troubled countries;

The big question is: What will we do with them? Will we threaten and warn them to steer clear of our territory and property?
Will we push them away empty-handed?
Will we give them something for the moment but ask them never to come back again?
Will we just ignore them?
Will we give a cosmetic smile to deceive them that we accept them?
Will we offer crocodile tears to deceive them that we sympathise with their plight when in our heart we are really questioning why they are moving so close? (see Proverbs 21:13)*.
What will we do with them? Will we blame them for their plight? Will we serve them with the leftovers from our tables? Will we refuse to yield when they ask for the bread that belongs to our children?

PRACTICAL WAYS OF THANKING GOD
Thank God for food by sharing it with the hungry;
Express your gratitude to God for the car by giving lifts to those who ask for a lift;
Thank God for your peaceful country by welcoming the stranger running away from war;
Thank God for your house by building a house for a widow;
Thank God for your home by providing a home for an orphan and a vagabond.
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*If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor,
he too will cry out and not be answered. Proverbs 21:13 (NIV).
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© 2004, Virtue That Counts. (Free to use with acknowledgement).

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