Today, we are on psalm 41 and one part in particular stood out to me. David starts the psalm by saying, “Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the Lord delivers them in times of trouble.” Here, David is linking God’s provision for people to their concern and regard for the poor. Christians can be certain that their righteousness is not dependent upon their behavior, but it is however, authenticated by their behavior. If somebody claims to have a real relationship with Jesus Christ, then that relationship should be made manifest through attitudes and actions that reflect the heart of Christ. So now back to the psalm…

Care and concern for the poor and needy is not some optional appendage of the Christian life, it is an inevitable outpouring of the transformational life of Christ at work in the heart of the believer. In other words, it would be weird to meet a Christian who didn’t have a powerful concern for the downtrodden and outcast. Conversely, this type of concern should be considered “normal” within the body of Christ. We shouldn’t think that someone is some sort of super Christian because they demonstrate acts of kindness or compassion to the poor.

One of the best analogies I’ve heard for this relates to how you can tell whether someone lives in a house or whether it is vacant. So, when you’re driving through your neighborhood, how can you tell if someone lives in a house simply by looking at it? Well, you would look for signs of life. Has the yard been mowed? Are there lights on? Is there a car in the driveway? You get the picture. If a house is vacant, it is relatively obvious. When someone moves into the vacant house, you don’t expect the place to look like a magazine picture overnight, but you would expect there to be more and more signs of life. It is the same with the Christian faith. When someone begins a relationship with Christ, you don’t expect their life to be a work of art overnight, but you should expect to see some signs of life. Care and concern for the poor should be one of those signs. We can absolutely therefore, expect God’s provision for someone who demonstrates real care for the poor. Someone who demonstrates that type of compassion shows that they are one of God’s kids and we can know for sure that God will always take care of his kids. Would love to hear your thoughts on this…