justice

- yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. for the Lord is a God of justice. blessed are those who wait for him! isaiah 30:18

just as our God is a God of justice, so we must work to be a people of justice.

- seek justice, encourage the oppressed. defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. isaiah 1:17

- you have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress. isaiah 25:4

- ... with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. isaiah 11:4

- there will always be poor people in the land. therefore i command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. deuteronomy 15:11

as if you can't tell, i've been thinking about the poor quite a bit. and although i don't feel a very strong obligation to go and try to paint every house in the ghetto, or attempt to feed five thousand, i do feel the burden to pray for them.

i've never really understood our obligation to the poor. i'm still not sure i completely understand it, but i recognize that we have one, and i'm ashamed to say that it's taken me this long.

it's amazing the way God continues to bless his people. those that have the hardest hearts, he chooses to lavish with unconditional love.

and here i sit in my air conditioned bedroom, on my laptop, with my ipod playing, about my new found burden for the underprivileged. i kind of disgust me.

God is so cool that he longs to be gracious to me.