What do you do?

I read an article about being a good samaritan today and it made me think of a daily occurrence I just have to ask about. Everyday I see someone by the side of the road with a cardboard sign asking for help.

You may not be able to tell in this picture but the bottom of the man's sign says God Bless. This just makes me so sad because you hear all the bad stories in the news about people who scam people and are just doing it for money either because they are too lazy to work or they are feeding an addiction. I remember two separate instances when I was younger of my dad reaching out to people with signs. One time we were on our way in to a restaurant and we passed a man with a sign that said he was hungry. My dad told him if he came in to the restaurant he would feed him but he would not give him any money. This man accepted, came in, sat at a table alone and ate. Another time my dad said the same thing to another gentleman who told him he did not want food (even though his sign said he was hungry) he just wanted money so my dad walked off.

Now in these times I am trying hard just to make it for my kids and I. I feel so guilty when I drive by all these people. I wonder why they don't try to find a church or shelter to help them.

Paul writes, "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Tim. 5:8).

Here we see that the person's own family is to take care of her/him before the church is to help. Even in the secular world the immediate family is to care for the one in need before an outside party. However Luke 10:30-37 tells us to show mercy to strangers............