I read recently that France is tripling its aid to the nations in the Horn of Africa to 30 million euros (£26 million) in response to the famine.
Whatever one thinks of politics and politicians, it is good to know that governments in the affluent West are responding to the crisis. Though some might argue it’s too little too late, it is nevertheless encouraging that something is being done by governments, by NGOs, by Christian organisations, by MAF.
Today’s passage (below), reminds us this is how it should be. Our own often petty concerns loom large, but we shouldn’t forget that we’re part of Christ’s body and that there are brothers and sisters who are suffering in ways that many of us find impossible to imagine.
We shouldn’t feel guilty, but we should do something. We can be grateful that, unlike some of the members of our African family, we do have food and water. We can pray. We can give. We can do all three. But the one thing Scripture doesn’t let us do is turn away from the members of the Body we belong to. Let’s pray.
Today’s Prayer
Lord, there have been times when I’ve been quick to think only of my wants and needs. Times when I’ve been slow to pray for those whose needs are greater than mine.
Forgive me for the times I’ve been selfish, self-centered and self-seeking. Help me to see that there are others besides me, and that their needs are often greater than mine. Help me to grieve with those who are grieving, and be grateful for all I have.
Since repentance implies change, help me play my part in making a difference. Speak to me in the silence and show me what I can do to associate myself with my brother’s and sister’s suffering, and how I can help alleviate it.
Lord, speak to me.
Amen
1 Corinthians 12:14-26
Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.
If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honourable we treat with special honour. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment.
But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.