I popped into the bakery next to coles today to grab a pie for lunch, and noticed a group of maybe 5 Aboriginal guys/girls hanging around front of the supermarket entrance, these guys are usually around a bit.......sometimes asking people for money, and sometimes just hanging. While I was in the bakery paying for my pie, one of the girls came in with an empty coke bottle and asked the girls behind the counter if they could fill it with water for her, the bakery girls looked at each other and said "no, we don't do water" I kinda thought that sucked, so I raced home (we live very close by) grabbed the biggest empty bottle I had, filled it with water and went back to give it to them. As I gave it to them, I saw their faces.......it was just a bottle of water, no big deal.........but they looked at me, and I felt some tears begin to leak out as I realised I was encountering Jesus
If you don't beleive me, read Matthew 25 v 31-46.
You might be reading this and be thinking, easy for you, you live in a poor suburb filled with needy people, it's easy to find a need and respond to it. But, I could have just as easily walked right past without even noticing, just like we all have at times and all will in the future, it doesn't matter what suburb you live in, if you open yourself up to the idea allowing God to open your eyes, ears and hearts to what is happening where you are, then you too will have the opportunity to find Jesus in the face of a stranger.
Naomi
If you don't beleive me, read Matthew 25 v 31-46.
You might be reading this and be thinking, easy for you, you live in a poor suburb filled with needy people, it's easy to find a need and respond to it. But, I could have just as easily walked right past without even noticing, just like we all have at times and all will in the future, it doesn't matter what suburb you live in, if you open yourself up to the idea allowing God to open your eyes, ears and hearts to what is happening where you are, then you too will have the opportunity to find Jesus in the face of a stranger.
Naomi
4 comments:
I'm glad you went back. It's the easiest thing in the world to walk away and forget. To think that someone else will deal with it or ... they don't really need water. I wonder sometimes if we trade a little part of our soul every time we walk away in an effort to maintain our space from those around us. You've made me think ...
Thanks for your comment, yeah, I think you are right.......it is sometimes too easy to walk away.......but I carry memories of times where I have walked away.....and sometimes wonder if those times I walked away were times when I missed the chance to encounter God.
Your right. It's like the ghosts of possibilitys trailing along behind us with no way to put them to rest... then we have our prayer time and we ask God to show up in our lives and you get the distinct sense that he's already tried and we missed the opputunity. The fruit of the spirit is responding to God by loving others... As you can probably guess, this is something I've been thinking about for a while.
BTW it was loveley to meet you guys at the christmas party on saturday night.
Yeah, it was great to have your back-up Saturday night with the usual, frustrating conversation.
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