Thursday January 12th, 2023
Meditate on : 1 Peter 4:9CEV
« Welcome people into your home and don’t grumble about it. »
Read: 1 Peter 4:9-10AMPC
9 Practice hospitality to one another (those of the household of faith). [Be hospitable, be a lover of strangers, with brotherly affection for the unknown guests, the foreigners, the poor, and all others who come your way who are of Christ’s body.] And [in each instance] do it ungrudgingly (cordially and graciously, without complaining but as representing Him).
10 As each of you has received a gift (a particular spiritual talent, a gracious divine endowment), employ it for one another as [befits] good trustees of God’s many-sided grace [faithful stewards of the extremely diverse powers and gifts granted to Christians by unmerited favor].
Understand:
The central message of Christianity is love, so much so that when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, in Matthew 22:37- 40CEV He answered:
37 ‘’…you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
38 This is the first and most important commandment.
39 The second most important commandment is, “Love others as much as you love yourself.”
40 All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets are based on these two commandments’’.
Hospitality is the duty of every Christian and in fact, should be our way of life.
See every encounter you have with people as an opportunity to show forth the love of God.
Help people.
You should never be rude or unaccommodating to anyone, God expects you to be hospitable to anyone you come across.
In Genesis 18:17, God who says He wouldn’t do anything without first telling His friend Abraham did not send angels to him directly. He only asked them to take the route through Abraham’s house at the time he would be outside. He expected that Abraham would call the angels in and host them. Being a true child of God, he did not disappoint his Father. Imagine, he hosted angels! (Genesis 18:1-16)
Many Christians have missed their blessings because they were not as hospitable as they should have been.
That sweaty fellow you did not offer a bottle of water could have been the key to your prayers being answered. Many of us are hospitable to our guests, which is good, but we can actually do better. Have you considered the widow on your street, the beggar on your way home and other disadvantaged people around you?
I must add that hospitality is not limited to giving out material things. It could also be shown through warmth and friendliness to people – a word of encouragement or just a smile.
From today, decide to be a true Christian and be hospitable to everyone you come across. God will bless you for it.
Practice: God wants you to be hospitable; don’t disappoint Him.
Author: Pst E. A. Adeboye.
Edited by Naomie
Freely you received, freely you must give (Math 10:8) , kindly share this devotion, and the Lord will bless you for it ♥
