Advanced Placement Economics

Give justice to the weak

  and the fatherless,

maintain the right 

  of the afflicted

  and the destitute.

Rescue the weak 

             and the needy.

Deliver them from the hand

   of the wicked.

              Psalm 82. 3-4

God has placed each of us

    strategically in the lives

of those around us

       to care for them.

The weak, fatherless,

  afflicted and destitute

are not always so obvious.

Need is not restricted

            to economics,

  but embraces the soul.

Some of the most

          unlikely people

  are the most needful of all.

Even the rich, beautiful,

          and powerful

   carry heavy burdens 

   no one can see.

Be mindful of opportunities

      to love others,

care for their hidden aches,

and lead them to Jesus

    who loves them even more. 

O LORD,

Enlarge not just our vision

   for the wellbeing of others,

but our hearts

  that we may care for them.

Help us to see them

             differently,

no matter who they are,

or what they wear,

or how they act,

or how they have treated us.

Spread Your grace

                lavishly

  over these relationships.

Help us to respond to need

   in every encounter.

You redeem and resurrect

    lives through Your love.

May we be faithful

  in bringing grace

  and the gospel with us.

Even today.

Even in this situation.