Tag: inspiration

Do you see others the way Jesus sees them? After you read this story, you may change your answer.

As I waited for my daughter in the Walgreen’s parking lot, I noticed a young man walking up and down the busy street carrying a sign that said, “Homeless”. I tried to dismiss the idea of talking to him, thinking my daughter would walk out of the store any minute.

But she didn’t. I kept waiting and finally, I grabbed a $5 bill out of my purse and stepped out of my car to talk to him. I asked him if he was from around here. He wasn’t. I asked him about his parents. He said his father was deceased and his mother wouldn’t have anything to do with him because of drugs. I asked him what brought him to town and he said he was here for the methadone clinic. I gave him the $5 and told him I would be praying for him. He seemed very grateful. His name is Michael.

I rarely do this kind of thing. I give to the poor through other means. The thing is, I can’t get Michael out of my mind. God keeps reminding me to pray for him. I don’t know what makes him special, I just know that I’m supposed to pray for him. I may never see him again, but if I do, I trust God to help me know what to say and do.

The next day, I ran across the following story and it made me think about Michael in a completely different way.

As a man explored caves by the seashore, he found a canvas bag full of hardened clay balls. Apparently, someone had rolled the clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn’t look like much, but intrigued, the man took the bag. 

As he strolled along the beach, he threw the balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could. He thought little about it until he dropped one and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!

Delighted, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each one contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so balls he had left.

Then it struck him. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 balls with their hidden treasure out into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!

This story made me think. Michael is like one of the clay balls. He doesn’t look like much on the outside, but there is treasure on the inside for the simple reason that he is loved by God. And, God has a purpose for his life. We can look at someone and think we see all there is to see. But the truth is, there is always a lot more that we don’t see.

I pray that this story will change the way we see others, making us more approachable so that we can better love like Jesus. Because, isn’t judging what makes us unapproachable? It’s something to think about……

May we be transformed!

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2 NLT

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” Matthew 25:40 NIV

With Love, Cindy

Click this link to learn more about Jesus: Who Is Jesus?

Photo by Amirhossein Azandarian Malayeri on Unsplash

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