Orphans / Widows / Homeless / Loveless

James 1:27 NIV Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.


I had read this passage before, but never in the Message. I found it absolutely beautiful. Take a peek:


James 26-27 The Message: Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.



I want real. I want to crush the fake masks that parade up and down the aisles of our churches. However, I stand GUILTY of one who has worn a mask at times. A mask of false identity. "How are you Jody?" "Oh, just fine," I smile, although inside I am aching.

My former husband, my children's father, has died. Am I now called a widow and they termed orphans? Through the tragedy of this situation I have been introduced to people I normally would have never known. The world calls these dear ones homeless. By the sheer grace of God, I have been honored to share a meal and sit beside these precious ones in church. I count it a privilege.

In the above passages, God refers to orphans and widows, homeless and loveless in the same scripture references. I wholeheartdly ask myself what do these have in common? And, in turn, how are they like me?

Although, I am remarried, by some standards, I could be considered a widow in some people's eyes. Although, some of my new precious friends don't live in a home made of wood and steel, by some standards those dear ones are considered homeless. I BEG TO DIFFER -- If we are God's Children, bought with a price, GOD CALLS US EACH BY NAME! He knows the number of hairs on our heads! If He knows if a single sparrow falls to the ground, we are considered PRECIOUS in His sight!! We are adopted into His family.

One thing I've learned through this process is to be careful what labels I place on people. God is challenging me to look through His eyes and to see what He sees. Beauty, Love, Child, Friend, Worth...and His list goes on and on...

May my heart always be such a tender place...