Jesus Came To My House
    
Jesus came to my house one day. He said, "I am lost. Can you show me the
way? I've taken a wrong turn while trying to say good-bye to a friend,
she's in the hospital, you see, she's near the end."

I patted his withered hand, and said, "Certainly sir. Just follow me in
my car, and I'll take you to her."

"How sweet of you to go out of your way! One day you will be repaid."

Jesus came to my house, he wasn't what I expected to see; a tiny child
who had scrapped her knee. "There's blood running down my leg, and into
my sock! While riding my bike I must have hit a rock!"

"No problem, my dear, I said with a smile. We'll call your mom, and
she'll be here in a little while."

Jesus came to my house, and it was quite a surprise, for he looked like
my bother, the one who would tease me unmercifully, and call me "four
eyes!" From childhood on he would mock my face; tease me about my
pimples, and never let me win a race. The story was the same as we
became adults; nothing I could do was right, and everything was my
fault."

"I've come to tell you I'm sorry," he said as he looked at me, "I know
I've been unkind, and I ask you to forgive me."

In my mind the painful scenarios ran. I didn't know if I could forgive
this bully of a man.

A verse from the Bible then gave me a new view. It stated, "Be kind and
compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ
God forgave you." -Ephesians 4:32

I took his hand and I said, "Of course, dear brother. Christ instructs
us to love one another."

Real life application: Many people wrongly think all they need do is pay
homage to God and His son, Jesus Christ. However, as the above story
suggests, and the below Bible quote affirms, God's light and love is not
meant to be held within ourselves, but rather, it is to be generously
shared with the masses.

The Christian message does not simply consist of words, but rather, it
is a state of being; how we live and give. The love God gives us to give
to others is not just for our immediate families and friends, but is for
all people; those we know, and those we do not know. It is for the young
businessman in the expensive suit who drives the fancy car, and it is
for the filthy homeless man who sits in the gutter holding a bottle of
cheap wine.

God's love and mercy is for everyone.

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are
cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For
I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave
me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I
needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and
you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or
a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help
you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one
of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to
eternal life." -Matthew 25:41-46