Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. (Hebrews 13:1-2 ESV)
One winter when I was about 14 years old, we had a heavy snowstorm that brought most everything to a standstill. My grandmother lived about a mile away from us and was spending a few days with my uncle out of town, so my father would walk to her house to check her coal stove and make sure the house remained warm. On that snowy day, we saw my father returning home with four strange men. They had been hauling chickens to the farmer that lived between us and my grandmother and got stuck in the farmers lane and had been in their trucks all night, keeping themselves warm by running their truck heaters.
When my father saw them, and heard their story, he invited them into our home to get some breakfast and warmth. My mother immediately cooked breakfast for them, and we invited them to stay at our house until their trucks could be dug out. Over 45 years later, that story about my parents reaching out to strangers, is still told. Indeed, they showed hospitality to strangers and we often remark that they may even have entertained angels unaware. May we look at strangers and those in need and see them as “angels” of God, not neglecting to show them our hospitality and the love of Jesus Christ.
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