Homeless

Homeless

"For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him." (Is.53:2-3)

With tear-filled eyes, we consider our Lord and the prophecy of His life here and what He would go through to save us.

How do we view those with less of this world's goods, without fine apparel, without the physical characteristics we deem appealing, without hygiene that suits our standards, without family, without money, without [fill in the blank]. How many times have we seen someone homeless and we turn our heads? I have to ask myself, would I have missed my Lord while He was on this earth, considering how I shamefully catch myself tempted to act toward those less fortunate at times? Would I despise the Lord, because He wasn't in rich raiment, because I was too occupied with earthly matters, or was too proud to even cast a look in His direction? Would I? Would you?

Consider this verse:

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (Lk.9:57-58)

Our Lord knew this world was not His home, He lived this life without a real earthly home but He was okay with that, His home was in Heaven. He looked to somewhere greater and invited others to count the cost of following Him -- it is like Jesus saying to those wishing to follow, "This world is not your home, so follow Me and My Father will give you an eternal home and riches beyond compare!"

How many of us are homeless on this earth? Have you ever considered that those living on the street are, in many respects, no different than you and me? Oh sure, we have the comforts of our own place but do we stop to consider that regardless of our earthly goods the way we treat our fellow-man may very well put us in the "homeless" category? Homeless in the sense that we reject the home the Lord has prepared for the faithful by failing to be compassionate on those less fortunate. The less fortunate on this earth show us, without a word oftentimes, who we really are on the inside. It can very often be the case that their physical state is but a glimpse at our spiritual reality.

Consider this statement from Christ about the Judgment Day:

“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’  And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matt.25:41-46)

We will always have the poor among us, that much is certain (Matt.26:11), however do we not see that sometimes WE are the poor and needy?! Only, our poorness is that of being destitute of compassion and the Light of Jesus Christ. It's a sad state of things when the disciples of Jesus Christ don't give even a second of their time to those less fortunate, instead choosing to look upon them with a scowl and with an attitude of disdain, blaming them instead so we can feel better and justified about not helping them in some way. A smile, a kind word, a conversation, a hug, a prayer (YES!!!), a cup of water, a morsel of bread...friend, you don't have to house the poor to help them! Treat someone to a meal if you can, give them your time at the very least. Act like you care -- as we all well should because Jesus demands it -- and consider that as we see those without a home on this earth, they may just be the physical reflection of our eternal soul if we fail to have the compassion of our Lord.

Do we honestly thank God for every blessing we have (Phil.4:1-7), or do we rather look for something to complain about? We're coming up on the time celebrated as "Thanksgiving" -- friends, give thanks that our Lord was without a home here to give us a home there. Realize that the very best thing we can do with our fellow man is to share the gospel while also trying to help them where we can in this life. Souls matter! Homeless or housed. Needy or rich. Bathed or unbathed. Kind or mean. Angry or happy.

Do you have a minute to give in order to show compassion? Can you pray with someone? Can you thank the God of Heaven for every life you see and every occasion to share His saving word and His heavenly love?

Consider the even greater need, greater than the physical things, that affects everyone around us -- the homeless souls. Will you help those souls who are homeless; those who are lost in their sin and aren't headed to Heaven? Homelessness on this earth is only temporary, however if we fail to serve the Lord in all matters of life, then our soul will be homeless for eternity -- and so will it be for every soul who heed not the gospel. Will you take that saving message of Jesus Christ to the lost? Will you show the love of God to every man?

Thank God for giving you a home -- now get up and do what He requires to obtain it. All of us.