12 July, 2023
In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’. – Acts 20:35
Dear Heavenly Father, Provider and Dispenser of all our needs and yearnings, on this bountiful earth, which you created and replenished, with more than extraordinary creations than what we merit, we glorify you and pay humble obeisance to you. It is our duty and responsibility to maintain the fruit of the earth and the sustenance thereby, working hard and earning the price of our labor. Yet, living in a community of haves and have-nots, we are bound, by the statutes we follow, to show mercy and generosity in our dealings.
This duty involves and includes support to the lowly, the weak, the poor and suffering mankind, so that our brethren do not fall, or being fallen, that they may rise again. We are exhorted by our Christian spirit to stretch out our hand of helpfulness, to retain any of our sick and injured fellowmen, be it in body or in spiritual needs, to do them the just service of uplifting those who are crushed under heavy burdens, upholding any who are falling, and so offer aid in a Christ-like manner.
It is more sanctifying to give to the weak, to those fallen in grace and to those bent down by heavy burdens, than it is to receive. When we have a super abundance of benefits and live in affluence, our goodness and charitable nature should be our foremost virtues, because we are aware Lord, that our labor cannot compare to your grace and that all we have is yours. Assist us, we implore you, to realise that it doesn’t take much time for fortunes to reverse, and being fortunate, we need to spread and share our bounty, in perfect imitation of our Lord Jesus, by Whose Name we live and breathe and have our being. Amen