SHOWING KINDNESS IS WORSHIP

Recently I bought a copy of the Good News Bible, resolving to read it through this year. So far in it, I have found new meanings to different scriptures that I never knew before. For instance, the  King James Version says in Proverbs 14:31, 'He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor'. But the GNB version of the same passage says, 'If you oppress poor people, you insult the God who made them; but kindness shown to the poor is an act of worship.' I will not say there is any disparity in meaning between these two translations but the latter opened my eyes to something new, that kindness shown to the poor is an act of worship to God. Really it should be, for God had told us in the scriptures that the kind of sacrifice acceptable in His sight is having pity on the poor; that by so doing we are lending to Him and He will pay back what we have given out (Prov.19:17 NKJV). No doubt, giving our substance to the Lord is offering our sacrifice to Him which makes Him happy with us. He sees it as an act of worshipping Him.
This other side to worshipping God through our kindness to the poor and needy is one that has reward. It makes God indebted to us. He owes us something in return. And He always pays back in full measure pressed down shaken together and running over! (Luke 6:38). Directly after King David chose to show kindness to Mephibosheth, his enemy King Saul's abandoned grandson, by bringing him from squalor in Lo Debar to dwell with him in his palace, God gave him resounding victory over the Syrians, Israel's indomitable enemy. Apart from his exalted name and position among the surrounding nations, the loot alone included seven hundred chariots and forty thousand horses! (2Sam.9,10). This is an eye opener that our worship offering to the Lord is multi-dimensional. It is not limited to verbal expressions in thanksgiving, praise and adoration of His Person alone, it can also be in forms of kindness, caring, charity, giving, serving and other outward acts of benevolence. The beauty of this is that God rewards those acts of kindness into fuller measure![
David's case is a vivid example to our leaders. He did not remain in the palace when he came to power, feeding fat and lavishing wealth on himself, his family and his political counterparts alone. He remembered the poor and even his enemy's family now relegated to the background. He showed kindness to all his people. If only our leaders knew that doing likewise is an act of worshipping God that brings great reward to them individually and the nation collectively!

olusegunisaac2018@gmail.com