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Visit Fatherless and Widows, August 23
Pure Religion Defined
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To
visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and to keep
himself unspotted from the world.
James 1:27
Among all whose needs demand our interest, the widow and the
fatherless have the strongest claims upon our tender sympathy and care....
The father who has died in the faith, resting upon the eternal promise
of God, left his loved ones in full trust that the Lord would care for them.
And how does the Lord provide for these bereaved ones? He does not
work a miracle in sending manna from heaven, He does not send ravens
to bring them food; but He works a miracle upon human hearts, He
expels selfishness from the soul, He unseals the fountain of benevolence.
He tests the love of His professed followers by committing to their tender
mercies the afflicted and bereaved ones, the poor and the orphan.
Many a widowed mother with her fatherless children is bravely striv-
ing to bear her double burden, often toiling far beyond her strength in
order to keep her little ones with her and to provide for their needs.
Little time has she for their training and instruction, little opportunity
to surround them with influences that would brighten their lives. She
needs encouragement, sympathy, and tangible help. God calls upon us
to supply to these children, so far as we can, the want of a father’s care....
Seek to aid the careworn mother.
In homes supplied with life’s comforts, in bins and granaries filled
with the yield of abundant harvests, in warehouses stocked with the
products of the loom, and vaults stored with gold and silver, God has
supplied means for the sustenance of these needy ones.
Those who have pity for the ... widows, the orphans, and the needy,
Christ represents as commandment keepers, who shall have eternal life.
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