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| Create in me, a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me... |
This is, unfortunately, a true
story. Perhaps it will serve to prevent
others from failing the test.
The Man I Did NOT Help
It was another one of those cold,
raw days in February... icy rain had been falling and was threatening to start
up again. Miserable, even though in the 40*s, with the moisture making it
bone-chilling.
I had almost completed my town
errands and was heading out of the market place towards my last stop, hungry
and cold and ready to be home ... and there he was, suddenly in my line of
vision.
Just around the right-hand corner
of a shop sat a young adult man, dark beard, so I knew he wasn't beyond 30. He
was thin, and thinly dressed in blue jeans and a blue jean jacket, no hat. What caught my eye was his posture.
He was sitting on the sidewalk
curb with his knees pulled to his chest, rocking back and forth. No, he wasn't drooling and he certainly was
not threatening. He looked a bit tormented ... but who wouldn't be, in that
weather ?
Did I stop the car and enquire
if he needed something? Maybe lunch ?
Did I park the car a moment in
that huge parking lot to see if he had a place to stay out of the weather ? If
he was managing to stay dry ?
Did I extend my hand to him, to
see if he were in pain, since he looked (slightly) to be holding his stomach
and singing, talking --- or moaning ---
a bit? Or, was he just blowing on his hands to keep them from going numb ?
No, to all of that above.
I was not alone, either; there
was a friend with me so I would not have been in danger if I had offered help.
( My friend did not look that direction and so missed seeing this fellow.)
Furthermore, did I offer him a
word of hope and good cheer, along with a tangible gift to fill his belly, that
JESUS loves him?
Unfortunately for both him and
me, I did not.
No, I simply turned my head to
the left, the opposite direction, and gave directions to take me home.
My dwelling place, warm and dry,
was waiting for me; hadn't I just paid the rent today ? And I blessed GOD for the funds to pay it,
too, without worry about robbing the food or car expense account.
But an odd thing happened at my
last shopping stop... my expensive quart
of raw honey slipped out of my hands and crashed on the pavement. I had bought a quart of honey here several
times and I had never dropped the jar before today.
What could be happening ? Was it that satan again trying to rob
me ? What gave the satan an entrance into my midst , bringing this distress?
Later that day, home, dry, warm,
and fed --- exquisitely fed with the best of a hot and delicious
stir-fry meal --- I headed to my room to rest and seek The LORD as to what HE+
would have me do for the remainder of the day.
One step across the threshold... and I knew what I was to do:
REPENT.
A bold picture in full color
flashed across my vision: the man I had REFUSED to help.
I thought, "Maybe he was on
drugs... and it is unsafe to come close to such a person."
The LORD said that was not my concern.
My sole responsibility was to
offer tangible help in JESUS' Name. The man himself would be held accountable
for what was given to him... just like I am accountable for
what The LORD has given to me.
I hid my face, like the
Unconcerned, cold-hearted Pharisee. And the Bad, bad Levite. I hid my face from JESUS.
I simply did not want to be
inconvenienced and so I turned my face from his need and went on about my
business.
My belly was full, my clothes
were both adequate and dry. I had a room for privacy, a cell to be in before
The LORD.
A cell to face my sin, my
regrets, my actions that could not be undone for that man.
No, we cannot alleviate the
suffering of every human being... but we CAN help the ones The LORD puts into
our path.
Yes, I prayed for The LORD to send a better Follower of JESUS than I to
that unfortunate man. I gave him neither comfort nor hope in JESUS and no help
for his sad condition.
I prayed for him, too, that The
LORD would help him, meet his temporal needs, and rescue his life from
destruction.
But it is ME, it is ME , it is ME,
O LORD who is standing in the need of prayer.
LORD, have mercy on me, a sinner, of
whom I am chiefest.
Hear the Word of Our LORD JESUS
CHRIST, recorded in Matthew, chapter 25: 35-46
:
For I was an hungred,
and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and
ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was
in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the
righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee?
or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in?
or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came
unto thee?
And
the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye
have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto
me.
Then shall he say also
unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no
meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not:
sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also
answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a
stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer
them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the
least of these, ye did it not to me.
And these shall go away
into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
I could not return to town to
make it right with the man. Yes, I donate to the local rescue mission but THIS
was personal. The LORD brought him directly before me … and I neglected to do
my part.
I missed the opportunity The
LORD brought my way today, personally, to me. I cannot blame my "family
spirits" for this behavior. The blame and shame is solely mine. Is it any wonder that the satan was allowed
to break my honey jar?
Hebrews 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for
thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Perhaps it would be good for
me to sit outside on cement all day tomorrow in denims and fast. It would
certainly be good for my soul. Most likely, it would be a lesson I would NOT
HAVE to repeat.
Let us pray:
Dear Heavenly FATHER,
I thank THEE for not striking
me dead in my hard-heartedness, in my Self-centeredness, in my unconcern.
I failed the test miserably.
I did not love as THOU+
lovest. I did not return my thanks to THEE+ by showing compassion to others for
Thy+ sake and in Thy+ Name.
I refused to do unto others
as I would have them do unto me.
I refused to show him even a
tiny bit of the care and provision THOU+ givest to me every day.
AND, I MISSED THE OPPORTUNITY
TO SHARE THY+ GOSPEL WITH THIS MAN, THY+ LIFE-CHANGING GOSPEL.
I am like a brute beast
before THEE+, O LORD... a creature only concerned with its own fodder.
Please wash me, O LORD, and
create in me a clean heart, a heart of flesh towards my fellow man who is in
harder circumstances than I .
I receive the lost quart of
honey as a reprimand for giving place to the satan and letting him block Thy+ compassion
from ruling me.
Forgive me; I will amend my
heart and grieve not Thy HOLY SPIRIT again.
This I pray in the Name of
JESUS my LORD and SAVIOR ... and JUDGE.
Amen.
