Entertaining angels

When I was a teenager I was out the front of the house one afternoon when a young man approached the driveway. He looked hot and sweaty and confused. As he got closer I could see his eyes were flickering up and down so he couldn’t see where he was going. He was clearly distressed and lost, and appeared to have a disability of some sort. My sister and I were home alone at the time, and I wondered what to do.

That's when a Bible verse came to mind.

“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.”  (Heb 13:2 NKJV)

So I thought I better help the poor guy. I brought him inside, got him some water, and tried to figure out who to call to help get him home. Meanwhile my sister was freaking out, calling our mum and saying I had “invited a crazy-eyed man in the house”. We got a hold of his carers and it turned out that he had got off at the wrong bus stop, and got overheated and lost. They came and got him and everyone was fine.

That verse in Hebrews stayed with me. It reminds us that showing kindness, especially to strangers, isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s something deeply spiritual.

You never know the true impact of your compassion, and just maybe you're welcoming angels without even realising it.

Imagine how different our world could be if we treated every person with that same kindness.