Tuesday and it is time to head to work. My coffee of choice today is Door County Jamaican Me Crazy.
Have you ever just entered a home an knew you were welcome and felt at home? The home did not smell but had an aroma. Something like freshly baked bread or apple pie. Your hosts welcomed you with a smile and you just hated to leave. But when you did leave you felt better for having been there.
Maybe they had children and the kids crawled up on your lap. It might be the coffee they served. When you left your hosts told you to come back some time and you knew they meant it.
Chances are, it wasn't the house or the bread, or the coffee or pie. It was their welcoming warm hearts that put you at ease and made you feel wanted and at home.
I was reading about a criminal who had escaped from jail and broke into a home. The residents at first were frightened. But they offered the man a cup of coffee and something to eat. He did not have to force anything from them. When he asked them why they weren't afraid and how come they were being so nice, the husband and father replied. "You see sir, we are all Christians and are assured of going to heaven. If you would decide to harm us with your gun we know that we will be in heaven within seconds. But while we are here we want you to know that we would have let you in, gave you coffee and fed you. If you needed clothes we would have clothed you. You sir are a child of God. You must have done something to go to jail. You will some day get out of jail and you would be welcome here for dinner." The man put down the gun and had the home owner call the police so he could turn himself in. Several years later after being paroled from prison this same man appeared at the home of the people he had broken in to. They recognized him easily because they had been visiting him for years while he was in prison. The reformed criminal had come to visit friends. He now is their pastor.
We need to reach out and love those who are hard to love. We need to show hospitality to all. When asked what it was that won the criminal over, he replied, "their warm hearts for strangers".
Matthew 19:26 (NKJV)
26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
God bless,
Marty
No comments:
Post a Comment