Don’t Turn Jesus Away

I was in New York City years ago shopping with my sister, when a young
man stopped me on the sidewalk and asked me for a handout. He was
wearing designer everything, so I didn’t give him a dime. In this case,
it was easy for me to ignore a poor person. After all, this man wasn’t
poor—he was a con!

People who try to take advantage of our kindness
have approached many of us. Street peddlers or drug addicts who trick
people out of money so they can buy drugs or liquor make it difficult
for the truly destitute who are forced to live on the streets.

Since we don’t want to decide who’s really poor and who isn’t, we tend to look the other way. It’s easier to just ignore them.

Rewind this story 2,000 years and something sounds familiar.

There
was an expectant mom who arrived in an unfamiliar city and was told
there were no motel rooms or boarding houses available. Though she was
about to have a baby, she and her husband were homeless.

Nobody
recognized her need, so she was forced to give birth in a barn. Her
baby’s name was Jesus. He became poor so we could have the priceless
gift of eternal life (see 2 Cor. 8:9).

Do
you recognize the poor around you? This holiday season many of us will
shop until we drop and on the way out the door, we’ll probably throw
some loose change into the Salvation Army kettle to help others. Or
possibly some of us will volunteer to feed the hungry during a church
outreach.

But helping the poor needs to become more of a
priority for all who follow Jesus. So much of His ministry was directed
to the poor. Why, then, do so few churches in the U.S. support
ministries that meet the physical needs of underprivileged people?

God’s
Word instructs us to feed the hungry, visit prisoners, care for orphans
and widows, and give clothes to those who don’t have any. So when we
don’t make room for these people in our hearts, we are doing what the
innkeeper did to Mary and Joseph when they sought a room in Bethlehem.
We are turning Jesus away—again.

When you see someone truly in
need, allow Jesus to break your heart, so you can feel what He feels
for the woman who has to live in a cardboard box, the many who must
sleep on bench or the child who rarely eats a healthful meal.

This Christmas—and all through the year—let’s make room in our hearts for the poor.