May 20, 2013

Religion That God Accepts


Psalm 146:9
The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.     NIV


     One of the things that the Bible consistently emphasizes is this – that the Lord cares for the alien, the stranger, the outcast and the unprotected, particularly the fatherless and the widow. And God challenges us to share that concern.

     In the New Testament, in the epistle of James, pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is defined as this: “To visit the widows and the fatherless.” You know, a lot of things that we think are religious don’t mean much in the sight of God, and some things we neglect are very important in the sight of God. God cares for the alien. He cares for the widow. He cares for the fatherless. And if God has imparted His nature and His compassion to you and me, we are going to have the same kind of care, the same kind of concern, that God has. And that’s going to be the kind of religion that’s acceptable with God.

     It’s not just a question of religious activities. It’s not just going to church or singing hymns, but it’s sharing God’s concern with Him. He cares, and we need to care. Today there are countless opportunities for us in this blessed land of America to show our care and our concern for those in this or other lands who are less privileged than we are. God cares, we need to care.

—Derek Prince