Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. . . . be willing to associate with people of low position. - Romans 12:13, 16 (NIV)
I understood the people’s reactions to me — the glancing looks, keeping their distance in silence. Like others in the waiting room, I was there to see the cardiologist because I had recently experienced a heart attack. But my orange prison jump suit, shackles, handcuffs, and two armed guards didn’t exactly help me to fit in. Then an elderly woman walked in, smiled, and said, “God bless. I hope you’re doing well.”I responded, “I’m fine.” Suddenly my anxious feelings were replaced with calm. “Thank you,” I added. Afterwards in the van heading back to the prison, I thought how that one person looked beyond the outward signs of what most consider a second-class citizen and saw a person
— a person who, though surely one of God’s own people, was in many ways estranged from the human family. Maybe it was simply that she saw an opportunity to do good. The apostle Paul reminds us that as Christians we are called to show consideration and care for others, particularly for those in need and “of low position.” While such actions may not always come naturally, that special effort can make a significant and lasting impression on people’s lives. It did for me.