On this day in 1770 Louis married Marie Antoinette.

When Louis, the French heir to the throne, married Marie Antoinette, the daughter of the Austrian Archduchess Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, he hoped the union would strengthen France. Four years later, following the death of King Louis XV, those plans took a step forward as the two were crowned king and queen of France.

The plan, however, was doomed to failure. Louis was unable to deal with the severe financial problems his country faced. Even worse, his wife had adopted an extravagant lifestyle that was greatly criticized by the French people. Under Marie’s influence, the two became dangerously indifferent to the plight of the people, many of whom were struggling to feed their families from day to day. In what has become a legendary episode, Marie reportedly responded to news that the French people had no bread to eat by declaring, “Let them eat cake.” The king and queen of France paid for their arrogance and indifference to the poor people in their country with their lives.

It was this same attitude that God condemned through the prophet Amos: “Listen to me, you “fat cows” of Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy . . .” (Amos 4:1). God’s heart has always been for the downtrodden, the oppressed, the poor, and the needy. Consider what God told his people: “There will always be some among you who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share your resources freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need” (Deuteronomy 15:11).

If we love Jesus, we need to obey God’s commands to share what we have and help those less fortunate than we are. What can you do today to reach out to those who need your help?

Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing. But a curse will come upon those who close their eyes to poverty (Proverbs 28:27).

To Do

Collect some canned food and other items from your family and neighbors. Take several bags of food to the nearest food bank.

Also on this day . . .

Today is National Bike to Work Day.

1866—Charles Elmer Hires invented root beer.

1965—Spaghetti-O’s went on sale.

From Betsy Schmitt and Dave Veerman, 365 Trivia Twist Devotions: An Almanac of Fun Facts and Spiritual Truth for Every Day of the Year (Cincinnati: Standard, 2005). Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted.