“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
- Matthew 25:34-46
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
- James 1:27
At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
- Deuteronomy 14:28-29
I included the Scripture from Deuteronomy to show that helping the needy has been part of God’s plan for us from the times of Mosaic Law. James says that true religion is a combination of keeping oneself from getting polluted by this world and helping the needy. And Matthew looks at whether we have helped the least of these.
So, there is this desire to help others, going beyond just Christians. People have found that endorphins are released, making you feel better. Some people do it just to look down on those they are helping. And many school systems these days have “do good” points that the students have to do. In each of these situations, God pays little attention. The people are doing it for earthly rewards, recognition, etc.
But I have been bombarded when I play solitaire on my phone with advertisements about the mother, in rags, with either a young daughter or an infant or both. They are homeless. The most effective of these advertisements, in my opinion, is the one where the little girl is drawing a chalk picture of a birthday cake and then the camera pans out to show the deep snow and they are homeless.
The point of these advertisements is that if you play the game correctly, the poor people will move into a home and then with more play, you fix everything within the home by simply playing a game.
Playing a game to rescue animated characters from poverty is not what any of these Scriptures is talking about. God is not impressed with animated charity. Helping real people is infinitely more important. I have never downloaded one of these games. It would probably be addictive, working on those feel-good moments and the endorphins flowing. Funny, instead of helping people, you can get the same feeling by playing a game.
Do you contribute to charities that do help the poor? Do you go out into your community to actually help this type of person? Do you contribute to a food bank? Do you help sort food or hand out food at a food bank? Do you cook meals for the homeless?
I am sure there are more ways to help, but these are some of the ways my wife and I have helped. Not bragging. I just know these ways are already set up in our community. What about your community?
Without an organization, you can still find people to help. Are you sitting comfortably while someone in your own family is in need? Playing a game is not the answer.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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