POVERTY

Read: Leviticus 25:35-43

If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. (Leviticus 25:35)

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Bible in a year: Colossians 1-4

Gokal is the name of a poor farmer in India. So poor, so much that he and his family are no longer able to meet their minimum nutritional needs of the everyday. As a result, their bodies grew weaker and could not even take care of their fields again. Their lives had not improved, but even more poor. Gokal was just one of millions of people in this world, who are stuck in poverty. They really are not able to get out of there, even more deeply entangled without hope to get out of there.

God knows the weight of poverty trap. That is why He gives special rules about this to the Israelites. Parts of the Bible we read today is a fragment of these regulations: God commanded the Israelites take care of the poor that exist between them. Not only that, God also held a jubilee year for Israel, to open up opportunities for poor people who worked as a hired hand, can later be free of poverty (verses 40-41).

Today, we also assume the command to help poor people around us so that they get out of poverty. We can continue to help the short term, ie living on their daily needs. However, we also need to provide long-term aid, which provide education, job training, mentoring efforts, and so on. We can do it yourself or channeled through institutions that can be trusted. Do it with love of God, who was pleased to see we care about - ALS

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SHARE WITH THE LESS SO THAT THE TESTIMONY OF GOD'S CHILDREN INCREASINGLY REVERBERATE

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