Wednesday 4 July 2018

The right thing to do

The right thing to do.
Jesus said,
Jesus said,
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  
I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  
When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  
For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  
I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 
“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Matthew 25:34-46.
Do you do what you can to help the less fortunate in our society, even if it’s just giving a few dollars to a charity or donating food to a food bank?
Our Jewish friends have a concept that I think those who believe in Christ Jesus should consider, it’s called Tzedakah.
One Jewish site describes it like this,
Tzedakah is the Hebrew word for acts that we call charity in English: giving assistance and money to the poor and needy or to other worthy causes. However the nature of tzedakah is very different from the idea of charity. The word “charity suggests benevolence and generosity, a magnanimous act by the wealthy and the powerful for the benefit of he poor and needy.
The word “tzedakah” is derived form the Hebrew root Tzadei-dalet-Qof, meaning righteousness, justice or fairness. In Judaism giving to the poor is not viewed as a generous, magnanimous act, it is simply and act of righteousness, performance of a duty giving the poor their due.”
One of their religious leaders put in order the various levels of tzedakah it goes like this,
Giving begrudgingly
Giving less than you should, bu giving cheerfully,
Giving after being asked
Giving before being asked
Giving when you do not know the recipient’s identity, 
but the recipient knows yours
Giving when you know and the recipient’s identity,
 but the recipient doesn’t know yours.
Giving when neither party knows the other’s identity.
Enabling the recipient to become self-reliant.
Such a concept as Tzedakh is perfectly in line with Jewish thought. Something we as believers in Christ Jesus need to put into action in our lives.
Derek Prince an American evangelist said,
“A faith that does not result in activity of any kind is a dead faith; it is empty, worthless, insincere.” Derek Prince
John Wesley wrote,
“Do all the good you can,
By any means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
                                    John Wesley

Tony Campolo the American evangelist wrote,
“These issues are biblical issues: to care for the sick, to feed the hungry, to stand up for the oppressed. I contend that if the evangelical community became more biblical, everything would change.”Tony Campolo
Please think about it.

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