A few years back, we did something unorthodox, something some may consider imprudent.\u00a0 One late afternoon, we drove past a man walking along the side of the road.\u00a0 My wife thought she recognized him from a local grocery store.\u00a0 We stopped to ask him if he needed a ride.\u00a0 As he got closer to our car, my wife realized that\u00a0he wasn’t who she thought\u00a0he was.\u00a0\u00a0We learned that he\u00a0was without a home.\u00a0 He was\u00a0walking to a place over 60 miles away.\u00a0 We gave him some money for a meal and continued on our way.\u00a0 Before driving out of his sight, my son, who was eight years old at the time, reminded us that it was cold outside, and asked why we didn’t give him a ride, as we were blessed to have a car.\u00a0 After giving it careful thought and consideration, we did give him a ride.\u00a0 We also took him in for the evening, washed his clothes, allowed him to bathe, gave him a few meals and a warm bed in which to sleep.\u00a0 We spent time talking with him.\u00a0 We learned about him and had an opportunity to share our faith.\u00a0 When we dropped him off at his destination the next morning, he hugged us with tears in his eyes, and thanked us for blessing him.\u00a0 During his stay, he told us that homeless people do not experience the kind of compassion that we expressed towards him, that people are not willing to take someone into their home like we did.\u00a0 I understand why this is the case.\u00a0 It is not safe to open your home up to a stranger, to expose your family\u00a0to risk.\u00a0 I was even reprimanded for doing this by someone in a men’s group the following Saturday morning.\u00a0 But isn’t this what missionaries do?\u00a0 They go to strange places to do things for strangers, in the name of Jesus.\u00a0 The bible tells us that there will always be those who are poor, that we should open our hands wide to the poor and the needy.\u00a0 Whoever is generous to the poor, lends to the Lord, and He will repay him.\u00a0 We are not to neglect to do good and share what we have, as this pleases God.\u00a0 God loves a cheerful giver.\u00a0 If we who are blessed see another in need, and close our heart to him, how does God’s love abide in us?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A few years back, we did something unorthodox, something some may consider imprudent.\u00a0 One late afternoon, we drove past a man walking along the side of the road.\u00a0 My wife thought she recognized him from a local grocery store.\u00a0 We stopped to ask him if he needed a ride.\u00a0 As he got closer to our…
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