Wait a minute, did I hear you right?

It’s truth time.

Sometimes, I am in such a hurry that I do not listen. You might be thinking, “Wait a minute, did I hear you right?” Yes you did. Often, while in conversation, my mind is moving to the next thing I need to do. I have to consciously stop myself in thought and focus on the words of the other person. Embarrassingly, sometimes I have to ask them to repeat themselves.

The other day, I found myself in this very situation. Helping this elderly man from the local food pantry, I periodically drop sweet treats off at his house. Our visits always include sitting and talking about God. I love our talks.

He tells me, “Faith without works is dead ” And, “love working in us is what leads us to do anything good.” God must have a sense of humor for I wanted to help this man and I ended up receiving the help. But it always takes me slowing down and listening in order to glean the biblical wisdom this man has to share.

Faith without works is dead.

The Bible says that we should “encourage one another and build each other up.”  I would like to think small acts of kindness is an encouragement in itself.

Last week, when dropped off some Little Debbie snack cakes by his house, he told me this story. Sometime back, he was praying and said, “Lord, if I only had a $100 dollars, I would give it away. I would love to give somebody $100 every day and make them happy.”

God said, “Use what you have.”

From that day forward, he set out to make at least two people happy every day. Each day, he would go to his kitchen and make a couple sandwiches. Then he would wrap them up, grab some pre-packaged cookies and a couple bottles of water and go down the street to where the homeless hang out and give it to them.

I could not believe what he was telling me, as he confessed the sweet treats I brought to him, he actually gave away. With a look of wonder in my eye, I stopped him in mid-sentence, saying, “Wait a minute. Did I hear you right? You go down to Washington Street every day and hand out sandwiches to the homeless? Everyday?”

Humbly he replied, “Yep. Everyday.”

In that moment, all our conversations of faith and works and love and Christ, came flooding back to me. I felt as if I were sitting with Jesus Himself. I have so much to learn.

Use what you have. 

The Book of James says,

“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? ¹⁵ Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, ¹⁶ and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

¹⁷ So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

¹⁸ Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

In the middle of our conversation, I see my friend’s faith through his good deeds and I experience the love of Christ in his actions.

Let us pray; God of all that is, thank you for the love you have shown me. When I was yet a sinner, you loved me so much you died for me. Let me be brave enough to share that same love with those around me. Help me to understand that faith produces good deeds. Let me be excited to do for others as you have done for me. In Jesus’ name, Amen. -M

Wanna go deeper? How could you use what you have to help someone today? Set out to perform one act of kindness every day and see what happens. Need ideas? Check out my #livelove ideas (or Random Acts of Kindness.) I would love, love, love to hear your thoughts or what you are doing. So be sure to leave me a comment and don’t forget to share this message with a friend or on Facebook.