Matthew 10:42, this is a verse that the Lord used to speak to my life just this last year. Jesus says:

“If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, because he is my disciple I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

I was talking to one of the children of a family in our church – it’s a single mom and a number of children – and somehow the conversation got around to milk. I don’t know how it got on to milk, we were just in the fellowship hall between services and this little 8-year-old says to me, “I sure like milk.” I didn’t think anything of it, but then he says, “but I never get milk.” I said, “What did you say?” and he said, “We never get milk.” I said, “What do you mean?” and he said, “We’re too poor to have milk. My mom always puts pitchers of water on the kitchen table, but we can never have any milk. Boy, I sure wish we could get some milk, but we can’t afford it.” I knew the family situation and he was correct, they don’t have the ability to give milk to that large family with this single mom. I went to bed that night thinking about that little boy, I was thinking, “If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, because he is my disciple I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” I thought, “What about a cup of milk? If the Lord is going to remember a cup of water, won’t He remember a cup of milk?” I talked to Sandi, we prayed about it, we talked about it, and we got a hold of the dairy in town and got that family a year’s supply of milk. When I saw that family the next Sunday they were so excited because they were going to have milk and they hadn’t had any in a long time. Sometimes God brings needy people across your path and you can be such a blessing. When you think about your circle of friends, the relationships that you have, and your church family, you know who you need to have your eyes peeled for? A single mom. A single mom in most communities is on the bottom rung of the economic ladder. They may have had a decent income when they were married, they may have lived pretty well when they were married, but suddenly something happened in their home and that marriage broke up. A lot of times the mother is trying to go back to work, sometimes she hasn’t worked in several years and is having difficulty getting a job, she gets a lower-paying job, and sometimes the husband is not faithful in his support checks, the kids are the victims of the whole experience and they struggle tremendously. One of the ways you can leave this place, if you want to take a smooth stone – I talked about David and how he went down to the river, pulled out a smooth stone, and went back and slew Goliath with one of those stones – you could go back and be a blessing to a family with a single mom and some children. Take that stone in your pouch. It doesn’t have to be a year’s supply of milk, it might just be taking them along to a movie, taking them out to lunch, or buying school supplies. Anything you do for a single mother and young children will be used by God to greatly help. Here’s the reality: they can’t pay you back. That’s the kind of giving God gets excited about is when you just come alongside someone else. So often we live with people that are at the same economic level as us, and we’re looking at people that make more than us and thinking, “Poor us, everybody else seems to have so much more than we do.” The Bible says you’re going to be blessed when you help the needy, when you bring yourself into their world and bring yourself down to their level. God says that at that point you’ll be happier and you’ll be more content. It’s not looking around at what others have that you don’t have, it’s learning to bring yourself into the lives of those that are needy and it can be a great blessing to you. This family that we helped with the milk -- there’s another family that takes them out for lunch every Sunday. The couple is elderly and retired, and they take out six kids and a single mom every week. The kids call this guy Uncle Don, he’s been like a father figure to them since their father isn’t there, and Uncle Don and Aunt Julie take them out to lunch. They come alongside and love on this family and have helped this family. Let me encourage you to go back with the stone, to have eyes peeled to those single moms and young children. Proverbs 19:17:

“When you help the poor you are lending to the Lord and He pays wonderful interest on your loan.”

Here’s a reality from God, when you help the poor God says, “I’ll make it up. Some way, I’ll make it up.” You may think you’re losing, you’re giving out resources and they’re gone. God says, “No, when you help the poor and needy, I will get in the picture and do something unique in your life. As you helped them, I will help you.” Last summer a little boy named Isaiah came into my office. He was kind of down and dejected, and I said, “Isaiah, what’s going on?” He said, “Not much.” I said, “Hey, it’s summer time! You’re out of school, aren’t you excited?” “No, not really.” “Why aren’t you excited?” ”Because we can’t do anything this summer.” I said, “What do you mean you can’t do anything?” He said, “Mom and Dad are getting a divorce, and Mom says we don’t have any money, we can’t do anything, we can’t go to the pool, I can’t go to camp, and I can’t do anything.” He just had his head hanging down. I said, “Isaiah, would you like to go to camp?” “I would love to go to camp, but I was told I can’t go.” I said, “We can get you to camp.” I took him down to the church secretary and said, “We’re here to sign up Isaiah for camp. I don’t care how we do it, I don’t care if it’s money from me or the church or where it comes from, but we’re getting Isaiah to camp.” We got him back to camp this summer along with his sister. You should have seen his eyes light up. When you help the needy you do get paid sometimes, and it’s the sparkle in a little child’s eyes, it’s just the excitement of that child. He was so excited that he got to go to camp. When we help the needy and those that can never return the favor, God steps into the picture and blesses us as we seek to bless others. Realize that your smallest acts of kindness can be rewarded by God.