"Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard. " (Proverbs 21:13) We all have seen the pictures of the poor children from other countries. You might say, "Well I just can't help everyone!" That is true, you cannot help everyone, but you can help someone.
When Jesus began His ministry, He stood in the temple and said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor..." (Luke 4:18). One day a rich young man came to Jesus and asked what he needed to do to inherit the kingdom of heaven. Jesus named off some of the commandments, to which the young man said he had obeyed from his youth up. Jesus then said, "One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me." (Mark 10:21) The young rich man went away sorrowful because he had great riches. He was not willing to help others.
Jesus told His disciples, "For ye have the poor always with you..." (Matthew 26:11) Jesus spent time with the poor, He loved the poor, He had compassion on them. Now, why is this so important that I am talking about the poor so much? Today the church spends more time trying to attract the rich and powerful and influential to make up their congregation. I am not saying we should not reach out to them too, but I think we are neglecting a harvest of souls that need to be brought in before it is too late. What are you doing to help the poor? Are we clothing them? Are we giving them food and water? Are we visiting them when they are sick? Are we going into the prisons to visit them or at least write to them? There is a harvest, are we letting it go to waste?
