ODB: The World’s Children
June 16, 2014
READ: James 1:22–2:1
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble. —James 1:27
After a group of high schoolers visited an orphanage during a ministry trip, one student was visibly upset. When asked why, he said it reminded him of his own situation 10 years earlier.
This young man had been living in an orphanage in another country. He said he recalled people coming to visit him and his friends—just as these students were doing—and then going away. Occasionally someone would come back and adopt a child. But each time he was left behind he would wonder, What’s wrong with me?
When the teenagers would visit an orphanage—and then leave—those old feelings came back to him. So the others in the group prayed for him—and thanked God that one day a woman (his new mother) showed up and chose him as her very own son. It was a celebration of an act of love that gave one boy hope.
Across the world are children who need to know of God’s love for them (Matt. 18:4-5; Mark 10:13-16; James 1:27). Clearly, we can’t all adopt or visit these children—and indeed we are not expected to. But we can all do something: Support. Encourage. Teach. Pray. When we love the world’s children, we honor our Father who adopted us into His family (Gal. 4:4-7).
— Dave Branon
image. Help us to convey Your love
to them with our hands, our help,
and our hearts.
The more Christ’s love grows in us, the more His love flows from us.
Source: Our Daily Bread
