"Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat
Time to put a penny in the old mans hat.
If you haven't got a penny than a half penny will do,
If you haven't got a half penny than God bless you!"
There are always people in need. Even Jesus said that in John 12:8, "You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."
We are more open to giving and to people in need this time of year because its a holly jolly season, gifts are being exchanged, there are parties and feasts and days off from work. But even being more open to it right now as we are I know that its tempting to sneak past the bell ringers or not answer the door when the carolers come. I myself get a bit fed up on a night when I've already given money to three or four groups of carolers but more keep showing up. Especially since they have been coming round since September.
But think on this; what really makes me different than the homeless man holding his cup on the corner? I am not better, more deserving, or less sinful. Maybe its his own fault he is there, but does that mean I should ignore him? How many times have I been in a bad spot because of something I did? In my suffering did someone help me or offer an encouragement? Why shouldn't that man get the same? Christian moral and virtue aside, anyone of us could be in that same place in a bat of an eye. We are where we are not because of what we deserve, but because of choices we made and others reactions to those choices. Rich one second and in the gutter the next. That's our world. So who am I to say what someone deserves? But simply to give because it could be me and my family in need next.
Oh, and I know that old excuse, "I only have a dollar, what good is one dollar going to do?" I've heard that played in my own head. One dollar can go a long way, it can be a phone call, a bottle of water, a loaf of bread. And if everyone who only has a dollar gives that dollar, a life can be changed.
But going back to Christian moral and virtue,
Proverbs 22:9, " A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor."
Proverbs 29:7,"The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern"
2 Corinthians 9:6-7, "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
Luke 6:37-38, "Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured to you."
And the most compelling reason to give, John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."
John 13:34-35, "A new command I give to you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
There are so many reasons not give, but when you examine them in the truth and light of the above verses and many more I haven't listed, they are not important. What is important is taking care of and loving your family. And in this world we all need to be taken care of and loved, and speaking as one who is thousands of miles from her biological family, it makes a world of difference to be treated as family by people not long ago thought of as strangers. The family of mankind.
Time to put a penny in the old mans hat.
If you haven't got a penny than a half penny will do,
If you haven't got a half penny than God bless you!"
There are always people in need. Even Jesus said that in John 12:8, "You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."
We are more open to giving and to people in need this time of year because its a holly jolly season, gifts are being exchanged, there are parties and feasts and days off from work. But even being more open to it right now as we are I know that its tempting to sneak past the bell ringers or not answer the door when the carolers come. I myself get a bit fed up on a night when I've already given money to three or four groups of carolers but more keep showing up. Especially since they have been coming round since September.
But think on this; what really makes me different than the homeless man holding his cup on the corner? I am not better, more deserving, or less sinful. Maybe its his own fault he is there, but does that mean I should ignore him? How many times have I been in a bad spot because of something I did? In my suffering did someone help me or offer an encouragement? Why shouldn't that man get the same? Christian moral and virtue aside, anyone of us could be in that same place in a bat of an eye. We are where we are not because of what we deserve, but because of choices we made and others reactions to those choices. Rich one second and in the gutter the next. That's our world. So who am I to say what someone deserves? But simply to give because it could be me and my family in need next.
Oh, and I know that old excuse, "I only have a dollar, what good is one dollar going to do?" I've heard that played in my own head. One dollar can go a long way, it can be a phone call, a bottle of water, a loaf of bread. And if everyone who only has a dollar gives that dollar, a life can be changed.
But going back to Christian moral and virtue,
Proverbs 22:9, " A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor."
Proverbs 29:7,"The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern"
2 Corinthians 9:6-7, "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
Luke 6:37-38, "Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured to you."
And the most compelling reason to give, John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."
John 13:34-35, "A new command I give to you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
There are so many reasons not give, but when you examine them in the truth and light of the above verses and many more I haven't listed, they are not important. What is important is taking care of and loving your family. And in this world we all need to be taken care of and loved, and speaking as one who is thousands of miles from her biological family, it makes a world of difference to be treated as family by people not long ago thought of as strangers. The family of mankind.