March 22, 2007

• Matthew 25:37-45   What is rich?
  
  Last night upon arriving at Grace and Grits (an opportunity we have each Wednesday to live out Matthew 27:37-46 in a real way), I was told that my friend Donna was in the hospital.
  
  First, let me give you a little background information. I have known Donna and her husband Pat for a little over a year. Donna is a small, frail little lady that is fraught with medical problems and her husband is a big, burley man with a huge smile. They live in a tiny little garage apartment here in Sanford and walk the mile or so to get to Grace and Grits each week for a free meal and the fellowship we all share there. They have very little. I was told by my homeless friend, Bill, that he has known them for over 15 years and that Pat used to be a workhorse of a man, though in recent years he has put on allot of weight and is also fraught with health problems. Last night after Grace and Grits Bill and Pat and I loaded up my truck with all my equipment and took off for the hospital to see Donna. Pat was there the night before (the night she arrived) until 2:30 in the morning and walked home (around 5 miles). When we got to the hospital, Bill stayed with the truck (so no one would steal my guitars and stuff) and Pat and I went on in. When we arrived to the room, Donna beamed ……though she had a stroke the night before……this is the reason for her stay. She lay there in bed, thin and frail…..
  
  Pat pulled out a cookie (with a big green smiley face on it) that he had been given at Grace and Grits, told her about all the people praying for her and then we prayed together with her at her bedside. Donna looked up with tears in her eyes as if looking at God in the ceiling and with passion said, “You are so good to me! You are so good to me! I am so blessed! Why God, why are you so good to me?”. With this she looked back down, smiled and her eyes connected with Pat’s, “I love you! I really love you!”. Pat told her that he loved her also, and Donna reached over and grabbed a napkin that was all wrapped around a big piece of leftover ham and two small hospital containers of orange juice. She told Pat that she had saved them for him and he beamed!
  
  These two beautiful people in God’s eyes………have so very little…..but they have each other…..they are rich, beyond measure! Most people, when they see Pat and Donna, shrink back a little because they look homeless, a patchwork of tough times and street grit………but when God sees them……He see’s two hearts that love Him, that love each other and with what little they have…..love others. They are rich beyond measure! I am richer for knowing Donna and Pat!

  I am reminded of two verses that help keep me grounded in the ways of God, in what is important in life:

  Proverbs 13:7
  One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

  1 Timothy 6:17-19
  17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

  What do you think?

  
   

  • 2:50 pm
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