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3 Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. ~ 1 Timothy 5:3-4
The God of the Bible has always had a heart for the least and the vulnerable. Throughout the Bible we see God caring for the alien, the outcast, the poor, the fatherless, and the widowed. This is one of the many measurements of the purity of God's love. He is by nature loving and when we access His love, it begins to define us. And, it is at this point that we will reflect Him in the way we treat others.
In Psalm 68:5 we read, "A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling."
It is the Father heart of God that makes Him quick to protect the widows and orphans who have lost those who once protected and provided for them. In Deuteronomy 27:19, we discover there awaits for those who abuse widows a curse from God. In Exodus 22:23 when widows cry out to God for help, God says, “I will hear your cry.” God knows and always comes to the assistance of such who are in need and cry out to Him.
In v.3 of today's text we read, "Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need."
We are most like God when we care for those who have lost their husbands due to death, desertion, abandonment, imprisonment or divorce. The fact is they are alone and in need of financial help. To give proper recognition to the widows means to honor them, to show them our respect, to show them our care, and to give to them our support.
It is the responsibility of children and grandchildren to support their widowed mother or grandmother. The family has the first responsibility to take care of widows before they’re ever put on the church’s list of responsibility. As we have pointed out before, the family is the context where true spirituality is revealed.
Henry Scougal once wrote, "The worth of a soul is measured by the object of its love." When a child or a grandchild takes care of their widowed mother or grandmother who are needy, it pleases God when we take care of them.
In Hebrews 11:6 we read, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” The word “faith” is the noun form of the word “believe” or “trust.” Thus, pleasing God is inextricably bound to trusting Him. Pleasing God is the result of trusting Him. There is nothing that we can “conjure up” to please Him that is not based upon who He is and what He has already done in and through His Son.
We please God by choosing to trust Him. When our main drive becomes growing in trust, a whole new world opens to us. We get to exhale, trusting that He has made us acceptable in His Son. We can finally rest, knowing that we are fully loved and accepted. Incredibly, when trusting God becomes our primary motive, it allows us to run like we couldn’t before. This is no hamster wheel. This is a joyful race because it fuels us and fills us. And, this brings pleasure to God.
In 1 Timothy 2:3-4 we read, “3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
The same word used for pleases in this verse is also used in our text for today. The desires of God unveil His pleasure which is to save the lost. This desire led Him to provide His Son as the ransom for all who are helpless and hopeless, and that is all of us. We are most like Him when we find great pleasure in rescuing the destitute. Of course, we rescue the destitute best when we are sharing the gospel of His Son with them because His provision not only provides for them now but also, and most importantly, for eternity.
