Evidence of Faith
There are questions in each of our lives that demand an answer. I was faced with one such question on a trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
I had just gotten out of the Sankuru River with Omba Ngandu, Rivers of the World’s (ROW) Congo program director. We were hot and tired and Omba said, “I have some people I need you to meet.” We traveled to a home in Lusambo that housed 38 residents. The elderly folks were orphaned, widowed, abandoned and some were blind. They said, “We have a question that we would like to ask you.” I said sure. They said, “Will you feed us or are we to die?”
I was stunned by the question, but, before I could even think I replied, “Of course I will feed you.” Do you know what I discovered? It would only cost ROW just over $100 a month to feed these frail individuals.
Do you know what else I have learned in all my travels through the years? All over the world there are people yearning to ask you, dear Christian, that same question, “Will you feed us or are we to die?” Here in America, we are taught to be self-sufficient and to look out for ourselves because nobody else will. If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, then you should have learned to shed that false thinking. Instead, you should have adopted the mind of Christ. It is our Christian duty to care for the elderly, widowed, orphaned and those who have been abandoned.
Is your faith in Christ demonstrated not only in the things you say, but also in your actions? See how your faith measures up to what is taught in James 2:14-17:
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
It takes little thought to tell someone in need that you will pray for them. Unfortunately, many times we fail to even do that. Christ’s love for us should compel us to love others with the same level of compassion. His mercy extended to us should stir our hearts to the place of being merciful unto others. Demonstrate your love for the Father today by loving someone in need by being the hands and feet of Christ.
