8 September | Youth
«I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me.» Matthew 25:43
In January 2022, 84-year-old Swiss photographer René Robert died of hypothermia after fainting and falling on a street in Paris, France. He had left the house towards a square and felt sick along the way, falling to the ground, and was unable to receive help from anyone for nine hours. The photographer stayed there until firefighters found him, and they confirmed his death. Shaken, one of René’s friends said that the photographer died because of people’s indifference.
When I read this story, I was also struck by such coldness in human beings. And I am not just referring to the indifference of those who passed by René that night; I am struck at my own coldness towards the people around me. In the fast pace of life, it seems that we do not see the wanderers, the beggars, and the homeless who are in front of our car window or the door of our house. In fact, we lack love and compassion for others.
What have you done for the homeless in your city? What is your church’s project to relieve the hunger of children in the neighborhood? How much money did you set aside this month to help the beggars on your street? In addition to doing all this, you cannot forget to tell these people about Jesus. In addition to hugs, bread, and shelter, the true Christian also shares the Word of God.
Ellen White wrote, “How would a father and mother feel, did they know that their child, lost in the cold and the snow, had been passed by, and left to perish, by those who might have saved it? Would they not be terribly grieved, wildly indignant? […] The sufferings of every man are the sufferings of God’s child, and those who reach out no helping hand to their perishing fellow beings provoke His righteous anger.” (The Desire of Ages, p. 825).
When you help others, know that it is as if you were helping Christ himself (Matt. 25:40). On Judgment Day, He will not want to know how many cars you bought or how many trips you took, but He will ask, “Did you feed the hungry? Did you welcome those in need? Did you help those who were lying on the streets?”
Do not be indifferent to the suffering of others. Make a difference in the world!