On Black Friday, as most other shopping women did, my daughter and I set out for the big city to shop til we dropped. Of course it was raining and very cold, but we had a mission.
As we sat in traffic on one particular busy street in town, I noticed that a local civic group was collecting money at all traffic lights and street corners. They were even standing in the middle of the road collecting for their cause. People would roll down their windows and give whatever change they had to these people freely and then proceed through the light.
The thing that caught my attention though was the homeless people at the streetcorners also. I noticed there were two; one on each street corner holding up signs that said they needed money for food. What I noticed at that point shocked me and caused me to really think about what we are doing at this time of the year.
No one was rolling down their windows and giving change to them. They were being ignored. At one point one of the people with the civic group came within arms length of one of these homeless folks and never even acknowledged him but stuck his coin container right in front of him to receive money from one of the cars.
It became apparent to me that we give to what we CHOOSE to give to and of course take care of ourselves and those who don't fall into those categories go without....just like those homeless folks on the side of the road. No one was giving them the change in their pockets. They were being ignored because they did not fit the mold.
The Bible says that it is more blessed to give than to receive and that is a principle to live by as Christians. Our hearts are more blessed by helping others than by receiving from others! But the Scripture passage that reached out to me as I watched people giving to those who were 'safer' was that if we are in God's favor and we see someone with a need...we just need to reach out to them. It does not matter that we can't relate; we might not have the same lifestyle; we might not live in a shelter; we might not wear the same type of clothes; what matters is that today is the day of God's favor and today is the day of Salvation. So if that is true; the change we might put in a homeless person's hands might be the exact moment that God chooses to open their eyes to His Salvation.
I remember that on the day of my own Salvation; I didn't fit the mold either and someone who believed God reached out to me and led me to Salvation! On the day of your Salvation; what reached out to you? Was it love? Was it someone 'giving' their time and energy to you?
I think that if we approach these situations like that; it is easy to give whatever we may have to them. I am not saying don't give to the civic organization at all. They do wonderful work; but I am saying that we should open our eyes to those that get overlooked at this time of the year. Those who don't fit the mold and are not easy to smile at.
The next time you approach a streetcorner and there is someone standing there in need; give what you have to give and know that on that day it may make a difference! That is what God calls us as believers to do. It really is the 'Season' to do that!
What they do with the money is not the concern; what the concern should be is that we have an open heart and see the need and as believers attempt to meet that need!
Tis the Season indeed! 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 "As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For he says, 'In the time of my favor I heard you and in the day of salvation I helped you.' I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of Salvation."
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