Who Are 'The Least of These'?

The words gripped me:  "Anything Will Help".  It was scratched in black on a piece of cardboard, held by a thin, dirty woman, who looked too young to be without a home.  My heart broke.  I had just spent too much money on a haircut and had just a few dollars leftover to give her, but I was happy to do so.  With her head hung low, she said 'God Bless You', and I prayed the same for her.

photo credit

Years ago, God started calling me to the 'least of these', to help rebuild and restore what had been eaten by the locusts.  (see Isaiah 58) And lately, He's been whispering His calling to me anew.  I can't help but care for those who have nothing, who have no one, who appreciate anything given, because they are all too aware of their poverty and shame.  Though I've never experienced the depth of their pain, some hard times in my own past remind me of my own need for grace.

Grace.  The Gospel.  'Been thinking of my own need to sacrifice more and whine less.  They seem to go together, do they not?  When I am not aware of my own depravity and lack contrition and poverty of spirit, it is easy to demand of others, even of God.  This Lenten season, and for weeks leading up to it, I have been praying that God would teach me to be more sacrificial every day.

Hubby and I are reading Swindoll's book on Job and in this the author comments on a what a broken and contrite heart looks like, including:  not making demands or expectations of God or others.  I've been encouraged in my prayer times to think on these things, and to really ask myself who and what God is calling me to....

Sometimes, it is nothing more than looking at my closest neighbor:  my husband.  While I wouldn't call him 'the least of these', next to my calling as a Christian, loving him is my first calling (and the two are intertwined!) More to come on this....

Have a blessed weekend!
Ruth