Exodus 22

Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
(Exo 22:21-24)

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
(Jam 1:27)

Here in this section of God’s “JUDGMENTS” these verses really jumped out to me, and made me think of the passage in James. They give us a little glimpse into the heart of God. Strangers, Orphans, Widows… these are all people with a LOT of needs, and NOTHING to give. These are not “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” kind of people. These are not people you would normally seek out; these are not the people we would normally desire as friends. They are outcasts, broken, desolate, and destitute. They come in all shapes and sizes, all colors and types… These are the “sick” that Jesus said He came to heal… These are the broken He came to mend… These are the people that our God loves unconditionally. Spiritually, we are these people.

If we want to live like Jesus lived, and love like Jesus loved, then we need to be willing to reach out to the unlovable. We need to be willing to care for those who will never give anything in return… We need to be willing to give our lives away knowing that we will never be recompensed in this world. Whenever I start feeling good about myself, all it takes is seeing this side of Jesus and His love to knock me back down a few notches.

We may think we are pretty loving, but the fact is we naturally want to ignore these people. Even when we help them we are often wishing they would just go away. God doesn’t love them because it is His duty… He loves them because it is His nature. If we love these people because we have to, it should show us just how much change needs to take place before we are really like Jesus. Join me this week in praying for this kind of love… love that moves into action when it sees the broken people of our world… Love that is a true reflection of the Father’s heart.