Even A Cup

Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple-- truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” Matthew 10:40-42

It is the Sunday before Independence Day, so many folks are on the road, relaxing and planning cookouts and celebrating. We Americans are blessed with incredible freedom and abundance. This indeed is a land of plenty. We can get so caught up in the festivities and forget about the people in need and invisible around us. We are surrounded by abundance, yet many are without and we need to see them and offer them what we can.

Jesus was talking to his followers about how important simple kindness is. We are blessed by God when we look to the needs of others. We are invited in the season of celebration to put a priority on the needs of others, for as we do we will draw close to God. If we desire to be holy, then generosity and kindness must be our discipline.

Today, I ask God to help me see the needs of those around me. May we all together respond to the needs of the least among us, so that we can be drawn to the heart of God.