Hospitality

 The Bible makes it clear that hospitality is a character quality that God wants us to have. It is a way of showing love and care to others, whether we know them or not. Since God is good to take care of our needs, we should be hospitable to others and help them with their needs as we have an opportunity to do so. We see this in the Bible because there were not motels and hotels where people could stay as they traveled. Instead, travelers would go to the city gate, make their need known, and someone would let them stay with them that night. That is what happened to the man and his concubine in Gibeah of Benjamin, as they traveled from Bethlehem to the hill country of Ephraim. (Judges 19:20) An older man saw them in the city gate. He welcomed them into his home. He assured them he would take care of everything for them. He did not want them to spend the night outside at the gate of the city. We all need this type of hospitality today, too.

Everything we have is a gift from God. We have a home, food, and money to meet our needs, because God has given them to us to use the way He would use them. We are stewards of what He allows us to have. As stewards, we are to use our resources as Jesus would use them. This includes being hospitable to others who need food and shelter. We must not hoard what we have. We must not be selfish and uncaring. God wants us to share and to enjoy using our resources to help others. This is true when we show hospitality, and as we are generous in other ways, too. God is generous to us, and so we must be willing to share generously with others. In fact, often God will actually give us more, if we are willing to freely share with others, since that is His heart. I pray we will all practice hospitality and see how we can bless others and how we will be blessed.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Judges 20-21 and Ruth 1-2.