Open Hands

This morning I felt convicted.  A good thing.  As I read the following scripture I thought of being the person on the receiving end of this and on the giving end.

⁷"If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, ⁸but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. ⁹Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, 'The seventh year, the year of release is near,' and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin. ¹⁰You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. ¹¹For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, 'You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.'  Deuteronomy 15:7-11

We live in a society that thinks of themselves.  People look out for their own needs, even looking down on those who are in need as if they are better than them.  Many churches are more concerned about themselves and keeping their church safe, than they are the body of Christ.  What the Lord commanded the people in the old testament is still a command for us today.  Take care of each other!  It's pretty simple but our society has complicated it.  I know I am guilty.  Our society also makes it hard for those who are in need to let those around them know.  Shame, embarassment and fear of being judged keep them quiet.  Isn't that sad?

I love the picture of an open hand.  I just thought of the scripture that says "freely you have received, freely give" so I looked it up online to find out where in the bible it's from.  Much to my surprise this is the whole verse.  "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give."  Matthew 10:8  Think about that one!

On that note, I pray that you have a great day.  I pray that we all open up our hands to those in need - and pray about the Matthew verse.  God is bigger than what we could ever imagine.