As many of us come to the end of our fasting we can begin to look at all the great things that God has done in our lives and be extremely thankful.However one of the greatest things to be thankful for is the fact that we are able to break our fast and begin eating again because we have food available. One of the things I really began to be sensitive to while fasting was the plight of the hungry. During my 21 day Daniel fast I had a continual feeling of hunger, I woke up hungry and went to bed hungry, my body yearning for all the little delicacies it is so used to like; cookies, crisps, bread and cakes which it was now being denied. One day I thought to myself "I can't wait to get rid of this perpetual feeling of hunger" then immediately I thought of all those hungry children around the world who felt like this every day of their lives never ever being satisfied until at last they died of hunger.
Unfortunately these little ones do not have the privilege of choosing when or what to eat, they don't have the chance to push away a meal and say "I don't like that" and have probably never had the luxury of feeling 'stuffed' or 'full-up'. By a tiny smidgen, I was able to see into their world and I did not enjoy what I saw.
The photographer won the Pulitzer prize in 1994 for taking the above photograph but tragically one year later he committed suicide. This blog post is not aimed at making anyone feel guilty or condemned because of what they have.This post is intended to motivate you to do something for those less fortunate than yourself. Many of us have been blessed with far, far more than we could ever use ourselves and this is for a reason. So that we would share and think about the needs of others. If looking at this photo of a little girl starving to death while a vulture sits and waits for the inevitable fails to move you then ask yourself what will it take for me to get me off my mind?
What will it take for me to be touched by the pain and suffering of those around me; the sick, the incarcerated, the widows, the orphans, the poor and the needy?
Matthew 25: 34-40 is a great wake-up call “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
If you are looking for a place to give then visit http://www.loveachild.com/ .
