REACHING OUT – REACHING UP

It was a bitterly cold Sunday morning. People were walking as fast as they could from the parking lot to the steps that led into the sanctuary. Standing next to the entrance was a poorly dressed man with his hat pulled down over his eyes and his collar held tightly around his neck as he tried to keep warm. His clothes were shabby and his shoes well worn. He appeared destitute, hopeless, and to those entering the church, unimportant. No one stopped to offer help.

The church members filled the pews, the choir took their seats, and the organist started the prelude. As the people sat waiting for the service to begin, they suddenly let out a gasp as they saw “that man” who was outside the church walk down the aisle, stand behind the pulpit, and remove his tattered clothes, and stand silently. It was their pastor.

Opening his Bible he read, “I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me.”

Every day God places opportunities to serve Him before us and around us. These opportunities do not require wealth or skills, intelligence or power. They simply require eyes that are open, a mind that is alert, and a heart that is sensitive to the needs of others.

Opportunities create obligations. To refuse to help others is to refuse to help God.

Prayer:  Help us, Father, to see what You see, to feel what You feel, and then do what You would have us to do when we see others who need help. Open our hearts! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture For Today:      And he will answer, “I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.” Matthew 25:42-46