Your ShelfYour Projects

The Offering for April 4

14%

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 19, 1908

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 85, No. 12.

Read the full edition

The Offering for April 4

By I. H. EVANS

How rapidly the years come and go! Only a few more days, and the time for the April offering will be at hand. This offering appeals to the liberality of every Christian heart, for it is not an offering in behalf of the strong and those who are able to help themselves, but it is an offering for the poor, the aged, the fatherless and motherless little ones, without homes and without friends.
Scarcely any object in this world appeals more touchingly to our hearts than the helplessness of these unfortunate ones. To care for these aged people, to provide a home for these orphans and needy little ones, is both a duty and a privilege. Christ himself made it an imperative Christian duty which none who hope for heaven can fail to perform.
The prophet Isaiah sets forth this duty of Christian helpfulness when he says: “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” Isa. 58: 6-11.
The privilege of doing for the needy and unfortunate is a great privilege indeed. The Master reckons himself as the recipient of our bounty. He imparts to the giver of help to his helpless children the credit of giving to Christ himself. In Matt. 10: 40-42 we read: “He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.”
It certainly is a privilege to every Christian to be able to give to Christ. None of us would neglect to give him shelter were he passing our way. None but would be glad for him to share our abode, with us, however humble it may be, were it our privilege to entertain Christ himself. While he is not personally on earth so that it is possible for us to give to him the hospitality of our homes, or bestow upon him the liberality of our hearts, nevertheless he is present to us in the person of these helpless, homeless ones who need our aid and charity. And we have it from the Master himself, that “he that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.” Even Christ recognizes the giving of a cup of cold water when given only in the name of a disciple.
Only one offering of this kind a year, calls for liberality at this time, on the part of each, if we have sufficient means to supply the many calls. Don’t forget the date—Sabbath, April 4; nor the nature of the offering: it is for the aged poor and helpless ones, and for the orphans among us. I. H. EVANS.