Wisdom of Proverbs gives us the same
message that Paul was writing to the Romans. If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; and if he is thirsty,
give him water to drink; for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the
LORD will reward you. Proverbs 25:21-22.
Enemies are difficult to deal with so Jesus
taught…"You have heard that it was
said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you,
love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons
of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and
the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matthew
5:43-45.
When His disciple asked about the end times
Jesus taught about feeding and clothing people like Himself—not specifically enemies,
but the way that all people should be treated.
But when the Son of Man comes in His glory,
and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the
nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one
another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put
the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to
those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry,
and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to
drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I
was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' Then the
righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or
thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger,
and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in
prison, and come to You?' The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to
you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the
least of them, you did it to Me.' Then He will also say to those on His left,
'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared
for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat;
I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did
not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and
you did not visit Me.' Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did
we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison,
and did not take care of You?' Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you,
to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not
do it to Me. 'These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous
into eternal life. Matthew 25:31-46
So putting these examples together shows us
how to treat others and they are good lessons to remember as we encounter
others in need. Those are people in need of food, water, clothing and even
something as simple as a visit. When was the last time you provided food,
clothing, or water for another Christian or even just a stranger? Have you ever
visited someone in prison—even if it is the prison is just their own home—or the
prison within their own feelings of loneliness?
Prayer
~ Holy Spirit, awake in us the awareness of those in need…and provide the means
for us to meet their need as we allow the love of Jesus to flow through us to
others.
© 2015 by Mickey
M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All
scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise
noted.
Biblical
search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm
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