Christmas…
What does it mean to you? For most of us it's the time of year
that our families gather together to exchange gifts, share a meal
and celebrate life. But whose life are we celebrating? Do we honor
God with our gifts to our children, parents, friends and co-workers?
Why do we celebrate the birth of our savior by giving only to
those we know and love? Is it not the least of us, the poor, forgotten
ones that Jesus holds most high? Today there are so many people
in need, maybe the person next to you is hurting, cold, hungry…
do you see them as you walk the streets searching for that perfect
gift?
I
have seen them but ashamed to say I did not respond as a Christian
should. We were on our way to Burger King, making a quick stop
on our way home from a long trip. Everyone was hungry. At the
exit ramp there was a thin man dressed in dirty torn clothes holding
a sign. His sign said "Will work for food". How sad
I thought as we headed to the restaurant. When we arrived we ordered
our food not giving a second thought to the man we had just seen
on the street. As they filled the order the girl behind the counter
asked if we would like an extra burger. I looked at her puzzled,
and then she said, they had made a mistake on an order at the
drive thru and if no one wanted it they were going to throw it
out. We gladly accepted it and made our way to the table.
My
thought was my son would eat it as he never seems to get full
these days. As we finished our meal and piled the wrappers and
cups on the tray, the sack with the burger was still there. We
decided to take it with us instead of throwing it out. As we left
the restaurant and changed lanes to get back on the highway I
spotted the man again walking just a few feet from us. My husband
said "let's give him the burger" and pulled over to
call the man. I rolled down the window handed him the sack and
he said "Thank you so much. I am so hungry I could eat my
shoe right now!" then he took the sandwich and sat down along
side the road to eat. As we pulled away a pang of guilt hit me.
Why did we not think to offer to buy him a meal when we first
seen him? It's not like we didn't have enough money to share.
As I ran through it in my mind…we did not think of him as
we ordered, even when God provided the food for the man my initial
thought was… my son would eat it. I felt bad that he had
no drink and the sandwich was probably not enough to fill him.
Who knows how long before his next meal! As we continued on our
journey home, I tried to put it out of my mind and comfort myself
by saying at least we gave him what was given to us. To this day
I think of him and pray that he wants for nothing.
Even
when God puts someone in need right in front of us we tend to
look the other way. Yes he can use us at anytime to help someone,
but what would our world be like if our eyes and hearts were truly
open and WE looked for these opportunities to show love to the
least of us? Just image if every able person gave a gift of love
to one person in need in their community! This Christmas the celebration
for the birth of our savior would actually be about Jesus and
your hearts would be filled with JOY to know that you have given
the perfect gift to honor him on HIS Birthday.
Imagine
if we did this all year!
Sherri Hunter