.TUNICS.

Hi again. This is the FOURTH installment ... you know the drill. This month...

.TUNICS.

This scripture has been flashing in my mind lately.
LUKE 3:11. The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.

Reading that strikes at something deep within me. We'll get to that. But it also makes me think of several other scriptures. Let's look at some of them, rapid-fire style...

Matthew 5:42 says, "Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."

In Matthew 6, Jesus is in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount. Talking to a crowd of people. And in the midst of that lesson, He says "WHEN you give to the needy..." There is no room for the word IF. It's understood that someone who is submitted to God is going to care for others!

A longtime favorite verse of mine is James 1:27: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." I don't know a lot of orphans and widows. But what action would that cause me to take if I were to live it out today?

That's the point I'm getting at, really.
I don't even have a tunic. But I certainly do have a lot of things I don't need.
I don't know a lot of orphans, but I know a lot of people in distress.
People don't often ask me to give them something, but occasionally I know of a need without being asked.

So... here's the deal. The scriptures are full of instances where Jesus or John or James or some other man of God wrote about helping someone in need. But... the circumstances are different now, so I'm asking you this: How would you translate giving your extra tunic to someone who doesn't have one? How would you translate that into action? For YOU, here and now? Do you need to go to your closet and your dresser and see if you have more than enough clothes? Do you need to volunteer at the Salvation Army thrift store to help them get clothes to people who need them? Do you need to check out Compassion International or World Vision and sponsor a child in another part of the world who has nothing? Literally, there are millions of people who have NOTHING. It makes me so ashamed to see just how cluttered my house is when people live with NOTHING.

Think about it for a bit while you check out James 2:14-26.

So let's be honest. You know of some desperate needs. Sit down and think of a few. Pray for them, then for heaven's sake get up and act!

SEVENS: Do not merely listen to the word... do what it says. James 1:22.
Aaron

Hearing from you will help me know if these thoughts are making a difference to you. Let me know if you're accomplishing the "project." Thanks for readin' ... and be blessed!
(Originally published January 7, 2008)