Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
"Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. 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." Exodus 22:22-24
Have you ever been alone? Of course, we all have had a time when we were alone but have you ever really been ALONE. Not just alone awaiting the return of someone you share companionship with. I mean alone with no one to comfort you, no one to hold you, no one to talk to or no one to show your love for. I mean isolated and solitary. ALONE.
We tend to not think about the lonely because so many of us have relationships and just take it for granted that everyone does. These are the kind of assumptions that get us in trouble. For statistically, one in four households today have only one resident today. Whether by way of deferred marriage (staying single), death or divorce, the numbers are troubling when we couple them with the potential adverse psychological damage caused by loneliness.
Well, this was a serious matter back in the days of the Old Testament as well and as we look at the word of God, He intended for the lonely to be properly cared for…or else. Here are some other scripture verses that reinforce God’s desire to ensure the lonely, whether widows or orphans were cared for properly:
"Leave your orphans; I will protect their lives. Your widows too can trust in me." Jeremiah 49:11
"At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands." Deuteronomy 14:28-29
"Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless." Isaiah 10:1-2
"Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds — his name is the Lord — and rejoice before him. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling." Psalm 68:4-5
"So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the Lord Almighty." Malachi 3:5
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27
Question: How have you looked after the lonely with special emphasis on widows and orphans? Have you ever considered visiting a nursing home and volunteering your time to provide fellowship to one who has lost their loved one and can no longer live alone? How about anyone in your neighborhood or church that is widowed…have you made an effort to show them that through the love of Christ, they are never alone? How about a local orphanage? Have you thought about providing care for children who are without parents? How about being a mentor and friend to a child who only has one parent?
The bottom line is that there are many opportunities available for us to "look after orphans and widows in distress." For just as Jesus did everything He could to love others, so too should we, reflecting His awesome, powerful love unto others. This Lenten season, why not seek to do something for the lonely...seek them out…encourage them…and bless them with the gift of your fellowship and love. Through you, they can see that in Jesus they need never feel alone ever again.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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