It's all just stuff

Have you ever felt like God shows you something in your life and no matter what you do He won't let you forget about it? I have felt that way for about the past two months in regards to giving and the poor and needy. There is a haunting in my heart that I need to be doing more for the poor and desolate of this world. The problem is I live in America where it is so easy for me to forget about those in need, or I can just change the channel when "those" commercials come on. But God, in His grace, is refusing to let me forget it. Yesterday I was listening to a sermon by Dr. David Platt, I would highly recommend it, you can find it on iTunes. In it he talked about the amount of Scripture God devotes to talking about the poor. Here are just a sampling of ones he highlighted and some others I have found:

Duet. 15:7-14 "You shall not shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him...Therefore I command you, "You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor in your land."

1 Sam. 2:8 "He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap."

Prov. 14:21 "Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor."

Ps. 112:9 "He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor."

Prov. 21:13 "Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself cry out and not be answered."

Is. 61:1 "...to bring good news to the poor."

Ez. 16:49  what was the great sin of Sodom? "she had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy."

Luke 4:16 Jesus came to earth, "to proclaim good news to the poor."

Luke 16:19-31 the rich man is sent to Hell because he refused to care for the poor (he was sent to hell because he didn't trust in Christ, which is evidenced by the fact that he didn't care for the poor)

Matt. 25:31-46 the parable of the sheep and the goats. Jesus knows those who are his by their reaction to and giving to the poor. Those who turn a blind eye and do not give are not followers of Christ and are sent to eternal punishment.

I could go on and on with verses of Scripture about God's call to us for the poor. I think the passage that haunts me the most is Matt. 25. I look at my life and wonder what God would think of all my stuff. I am secure in the fact of my salvation. I know I don't earn his favor and forgiveness by doing things, but the evidence of that salvation must be apparent. I am praying more and more for God to take my love of things away. That he would continue to awaken in me a deep longing to give to the poor and needy. Because all my stuff is not worth comparing to Christ.