The Value of Valuing

Let mutual love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers for by doing so some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. -Hebrews 13:1-3 (NIV)

If you're in the hospital on Christmas Day, you are very sick! My family and I learned that truth years ago when our son became critically ill and was hospitalized in mid-December. As Christmas Day approached, the hospitals emptied of patients and staff except for only the sickest people and the staff needed to care for the sickest people.

With so few cars in the parking lot on Christmas Day, we were surprised when there was a knock at our door and a small group of people stood there with presents for the children hospitalized on Christmas. We were so touched by their thoughtfulness that my family and I decided that we'd begin doing the same thing on Christmas Day: delivering toys to critically ill children in the hospital. We did this for a couple of years but stopped because we realized that lots of people remember critically ill children at Christmas but far less likely are critically ill children remembered throughout the rest of the year.

In today's scripture, we are instructed to make time for strangers. Doing so may turn out to be a big blessing; we may be entertaining angels without even knowing it. Additionally, we are challenged to put ourselves in the shoes of others, specifically those who are imprisoned and those who have been mistreated.

Perhaps during the holiday season, you are more attentive and sensitive to strangers and those who have been mistreated and imprisoned. Perhaps you've purchased presents for an angel tree child or made a donation to a domestic abuse center. Perhaps you've purchased a gift whose proceeds support the children of inmates or perhaps you have sent Christmas cards to prisoners. Thank you for assisting the stranger, the mistreated, and the imprisoned during this holy season.

But I encourage you to not just be a Hebrew 13 Christian at Christmas and Easter only. May God grant you the grace to see the value of valuing the stranger, the imprisoned, and the mistreated throughout the entire year. You'll no doubt be blessed... and they will too.




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If you're interested in reading through the Bible in a year, tomorrow's suggested readings are James 1-5.