Meeting the Needs of Others – Our Daily Bread, ODB Devotional, 28th December 2023

Due to his serious mental illness, Phillip’s father had abandoned his family and was living on the streets. Phillip was understandably worried about his father’s safety after Cyndi and her small boy spent a day looking for him. He questioned his mother about the warmth of his father and the other homeless individuals. As a result, they started a campaign to gather and provide blankets and other cold-weather apparel to the local homeless population. Cyndi has regarded it as her life’s work for more than ten years, attributing her awakening to the difficulties of not having a warm place to sleep to her son and her strong faith in God.

We have long been instructed to meet the needs of others by the Bible. Moses records a set of guidelines for our interactions with people who lack abundant resources in the book of Exodus. Exodus 22:25 states that we are to “not treat it like a business deal” and should not profit or gain anything when we are driven to meet the needs of another. A person’s cloak was only supposed to be returned by dusk if it was taken as collateral, “because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has.” How else are they able to sleep? (verse 27).

Let’s pray to God to open our hearts and eyes so we can see how we might help people who are suffering. We glorify Him by treating people with decency and care, whether we aim to satisfy the needs of a single person or many, as Cyndi and Phillip have.