The Wrong Question

If God is all powerful, then why doesn't He feed the poor? Why doesn't He stop all the wars? We're asking the wrong question.

Of course, God could stop all of the wars and end hunger. He's God! The REAL question is "why don't WE?"

The first verse that comes to my mind about this topic was when Jesus said, "The poor you will always have with you." - Matthew 26:11. Why? Why will we ALWAYS have the poor with us? It's because WE are the ones who are supposed to care for them. WE are the ones who are failing to feed the hungry.

Of course, Jesus is really talking about the 'spiritually' poor. And Jesus was right. They have always been with us.

The statement "the poor you will always have with you" is an all-knowing God knowing that we will never accomplish what He wants us to do, because of our sinful nature. Our desire for our own material possessions and 'looking out for number one' outweighs our desire to help and to love others.

A better question should be "Lord, what can I do to help the poor?" To feed the hungry. To cloth the naked.

Lord, show me what you would have me do. Lord, teach me, that I might use my knowledge to feed those who are hungry, house those who have no home, to clothe those who are naked.

We keep asking all of the wrong questions. We have the capability and financial resources to do everything God wants us to do, but we don't. It's not God we should be questioning. It is ourselves and our own free will decisions.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ - Matthew 25:34-40

Let's Get Naked!

Today's story is going to be a little different. The title might lead you to believe I am writing about something dirty. Well, actually, I am. But I am actually writing about the act of getting "naked" before God.

We were actually designed by God to be naked you know.

25Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame." - Genesis 2:25

See? It's biblical! But when sin entered the world we became ashamed of our bodies and began to cover them up.

"6When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves." - Genesis 3:6-7

Ever since then, being naked has been construed as being bad or frowned upon. We have laws against public nudity. Nudity is a crime! Yet that is actually what God designed us to be  - naked before Him. Let me explain.

Have you ever gone for a jog or mowed the lawn on a hot, humid day? Maybe when the dewpoint is over 60 and really humid? The first thing we want to do after we're finished is take a shower! But first we have to take our sweaty clothes off. That's often hard to do. Our clothes, which were designed to stay on us, and really hard to get off when they're all dirty and sweaty.

When we come before God in prayer, that is the time we should be "getting naked." We must confess all of our dirtiness, the sin we have committed, during our prayers. We must ask Jesus to remove them from us. He has promised to do that for us, if we only would ask.

Asking God to remove our sins can be difficult. We first have to realize that we have them. Then we must desire to get rid of them, but that can be tough. That's why we need Jesus.

In order for us to be clean and pure in God's eyes, naked and not ashamed, we must be washed by Jesus. We do that by surrendering to Him. But more on that next time. Until then I encourage you to bare yourself, your heart and your soul, before God, seek His forgiveness, and do so in the name of His Son, Jesus. It's an amazing feeling to be clean.

Freely Freely - Maranatha