When I was hungry !


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While in India our drive from Gurgaon to Delhi was always a long trek . Our  church and our friends were in Delhi so invariably twice a week we had to undertake this travel to Delhi which came with a package deal of traffic,chaos and delays. 

Some trips are interesting too . We often encounter people seeking alms at traffic lights or during roadblocks. Some innovative kids would be with drums and tambourines performing antics on the roads and then to the end of it taking their bowl would ask alms to every passerby and people waiting in the traffic blocks .

One day while we were close to the Qutab Minar junction[ those familiar with Delhi will know] there was this very decently dressed gentleman, suited and booted and with a suitcase in hand . He was going from one car to the other . When he approached us ,he told us that he was slated to travel to his hometown for something urgent but unfortunately someone picked his pocket and he has absolutely no cash on him . His story sounded so genuine and we were in a limbo as to what needs to be done . How can we trust this person ? What if he really has a genuine situation ? We did not have much time to mull over this as the red light would turn green any moment .We [ my husband and me ] always like to give people the benefit of doubt . Thus we ended up giving this gentleman a decent amount . 

Two weeks later on the same route we see this same gentleman and he was upto the same thing again . Boy we sure felt let down . 

However we do not allow this incident to make us judgemental about others and their needs. If we have people throwing out their hands we try our best in even a small way not to disappoint people. Definitely we don’t promote kids and people seeking money at the traffic lights [as that was a one off case] . 

We have received grace upon grace and when we give with a heart of gratitude we have seen God’s hand of blessings too . 

“Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:1-2 
That’s what our father of faith Abraham did . He invited three strangers home over for a meal and he was blessed [Genesis 18:2] . 

Jesus never turned away anyone who came to Him seeking for something . He healed people , delivered people , fed thousands of people . Even in the feeding of five thousand people , the disciples' best option was to send the people away. But Jesus had a heart for them. He did not want to send them away hungry . These people were listening to Jesus preach and sending them away hungry was not something Jesus would settle for . A little boy offered all that he had , five loaves and two fish . Jesus took the little and multiplied it and fed five thousands .  

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’” Matthew 25:35-36 . How rewarding it would be if our names would feature in the list of people who looked out for others ! 

Many of us are blessed in so many ways . Giving is something that our saviour has taught us to do but it's also our prerogative, as He has always given us the free will in taking decisions. 

I know many of us would have felt let down and angered for being deceived many times but let not few instances that we have had in our lives be the deciding factor of the very act of giving . 

God bless you all !


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