Outdoor Living

I went outside this morning to get the newspaper, which was out on the drive. It was cold this morning. The weather service says it was 12 degrees when I went outside at 8am, and only 10 degrees an hour later. The wind was out of the northwest at 30 miles an hour, bringing a wind chill of about 12 degrees below zero. As I ventured out in only a long sleeved shirt, I suddenly thought of something disturbing.
“My gosh, there are people who have to live out here!” That thought came on me like a ton of bricks, and I suddenly appreciated all the more the house behind me that was my home. And I had renewed feelings for those who, for whatever reason, had to spend the night in the wind and cold.
And now that I’ve had a few hours to think about it, I have to wonder if I will have anything other than “renewed feelings” for these people. Yes, some of them made their own beds, so to speak. Yes, some are mentally ill. And yes, others of them are chronic homeless and prefer, for whatever reason, to be that way. There are also countless others who are now living in cars or some place else that don’t want to be there, perhaps had a job and home until recently, and are on hard times.
I don’t care what the reason for the homelessness may be; there is something inherently wrong with allowing people to live outdoors in weather like this, and not at least making the indoors available in some way. And I think there’s something wrong when people who are blessed with comfort out of the weather don’t at least make an attempt, in some way, to provide for shelter for those who have none. Whether that attempt is working with a homeless shelter in some way, or just contributing funds to some worthy homeless effort, it is incumbent on us all to look at what God has given us and find some way to use that gift to His glory. I don't care if what God has given us is only a small home that we have to set the thermostat on 60 degrees in order to afford the heat bill, that's more than others have, and is a blessing from God.
Our church works with the homeless in more than one way, and we are part of that work through our giving of funds. That isn’t something that we can congratulate ourselves for, but rather is something that we humbly should continue, and continue to seek out other ways to fulfill the admonition of Jesus to “offer a cup of cold water” in His name.