Why does God allow so many of his children to be poor? He could make them all rich if he pleased! He could lay bags of gold at their doors! He could send them a fortune! He could scatter abundance around their houses, as once he made the quails lie in heaps around Israel's camp and rained bread from heaven to feed them.

There's no necessity for their poverty, except that he sees it to be best. "The cattle on a thousand hills are his"—he could supply them! He could make the richest, the greatest, and the mightiest bring all their power and riches to the feet of his children, for the hearts of all men are in his control. But he does not choose to do this. He allows them to suffer want. He allows them to pine in poverty and obscurity.

Why is this? There are many reasons, but here is one: to give those of us who are favored with enough an opportunity to show our love for Jesus.

We show our love to Christ when we sing of him and when we pray to him. But if there were no sons of need in the world, we would lose the sweet privilege of proving our love by ministering to his poorer brethren. He has ordained that we should prove our love stands not in word only, but in deed and in truth.

If we truly love Christ, we shall care for those who are loved by him. Those who are dear to him will be dear to us. Let us then look upon it not as a duty but as a privilege to relieve the poor of the Lord's flock—remembering the words of the Lord Jesus: "Whatever you did for one of the least of these my brethren, you did for me."

Surely this assurance is sweet enough, and this motive strong enough, to lead us to help others with a willing hand and a loving heart—remembering that all we do for his people is graciously accepted by Christ as done to himself.