First Sabbath Offering for the Welfare Department
In the Word of God, we find specific instructions regarding the poor, especially in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Let us consider one of them:
“If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth” (Deuteronomy 15:7, 8).
We are not asked to help any poor person indiscriminately, but we cannot neglect the “worthy poor.”
“’These hands,’ [Paul] declared, ‘have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me’ (Acts 20:34). Amidst his arduous labors and extensive journeys for the cause of Christ, he was able, not only to supply his own wants, but to spare something for the support of his fellow laborers and the relief of the worthy poor. This he accomplished only by unremitting diligence and the closest economy. Well might he point to his own example as he said, ‘I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive’ (Verse 35).”—The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 395, 396.
It is not an easy task to identify the “worthy poor” among all those who come to us asking for help. Without doubt, we do have many worthy poor in our midst, and it is our duty to study each case which is brought before us and help those who are poor due to difficult circumstances, such as disease, unemployment, and natural disasters.
May the Lord give us a helping spirit when this First Sabbath Offering is collected in behalf of the “worthy poor” in our midst.
The General Conference Welfare Department Secretary