Ernest is a man my husband and I met after a concert at the Tabernacle in Atlanta on Sunday night. We gave him a few dollars and prayed for him when he stopped us to ask us for help paying for a night at the shelter.
As we were walking out of the concert I looked over and noticed a man in the dumpster and then a lady talking to herself, or maybe she was talking to us but it didn't seem so.
My heart broke.
I can't imagine being so desperate for food or shelter that I had to jump into a dumpster. So many people with so many stories and we just pass them by without a second thought or a second look. Most people would rather ignore their existence than to take a moment to acknowledge that there is a life and that life has a purpose and that life has needs.
God loves Ernest and the others that we saw and didn't see. He loves them just as much as He loves us. "Red, yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world!" A child's song, but it's so true! No matter what differences we have from each other, be it skin color, background, jobs, homes sizes, or even our individual stories... He loves us all the same.
And we are commanded to love each other, to love all of God's children... The greatest commandment is to love. And Jesus also says that what we have done to the least of these we have done to Him. That's my challenge to everyone, and not just to the homeless but to all of God's children - Acknowledge that they are a life that is valuable to God, that they are to be loved and that they are precious in HIS sight! How do you think things would change if we all lived according to God's greatest commands? What can you do differently? Who can you be Jesus to?
Just some food for thought...
