Help Those In Need
“And the King will tell them, ‘I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’” -- Matthew 25:40
When was the last time you went out of your way for someone? When was the last time you took food to someone who was ill or grieving? When did you last visit someone sick or homebound? How long has it been since you volunteered to drive an elderly neighbor to the doctor or baby-sit someone else’s child for a few hours or help a deployed soldier’s wife with yard work?
Most of us are pretty good at telling other people what they need to do. Most times we’re even pretty good at knowing what we need to do. But doing it, well, that’s something else entirely.
We’re full of excuses. We’re too busy. We don’t have any extra money. Surely, someone else will step up. We’re not good with kids or the elderly or the sick or whoever it is that could use some help. Truthfully, we just don’t want to be bothered.
And, yet, we are called to be bothered. And to be happy about it. Whether it’s convenient or not. Whether we have time or money or talent or patience. We’re called to help people.
Yesterday a young woman came up to me, a shocked expression on her face. My friend had stopped by to leave something for me. In that short time period, she noticed the young woman had on high-heeled shoes while she walked around on an asphalt parking lot. The young woman explained that she had no other shoes, then showed my friend the holes in her soles. My friend gave her $50 in cash and told her to go and buy a pair of shoes.
The young woman told me that no one had ever done anything like that for her. She learned something. She learned that some Christians do live their faith, giving generously to those in need. She learned that true gifts are just that. Gifts. Not a loan and not an obligation to somehow pay back one day. And she learned that kindness exists and sometimes it comes in the form of a stranger who notices a need.
Every day we are called to do something for someone else. It might be helping a stranger afford a new pair of shoes. It might be a bag of groceries left on a doorstep. Or a freshly mown lawn left for a harried single-mom to find. Kindness comes in many forms but it only comes from a caring heart.
Jesus told us to do for those in need. No exceptions. So I’ll ask you again: When was the last time you went out of your way for someone?
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