Do Not Forget to Show Hospitality

🌅 Good morning

Sunday morning’s Bible Word is… 📖

Hebrews 13:2
…
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.”
・・・・・・・・・・・・・
Well… 🤔
About twenty years ago, we were running a restaurant nearby.
…
One cold, rainy February dawn, at around 5:00 a.m., I was in the kitchen preparing food with my brother-in-law.
My brother-in-law had become a Christian, but when it came to faith, he was rather skeptical. 🧐
…
Because the shopping street was completely dark, we opened the entrance shutter.
After a while, even though it was a cold dawn, an elderly man in light clothing stopped in front of the shop to take shelter from the rain.
…
My brother-in-law looked annoyed and said, “What’s with that man… 😡”
…
So, half joking, I said, “That man is an angel❗️”
Since it was raining and cold, I invited him inside.
…
When I looked more closely… 🧐
he was barefoot… 😰
I hurried to bring a towel
and gave him my slippers to wear.
…
Then I served him a warm drink and said,
“Please rest here until the rain stops and it gets light outside.”
Then I went back to preparing the food.

My brother-in-law had been watching everything. 🧐
He went over to the man and said,
“Please, please… it’s cold here, so come sit in the tatami room in the back.”
“My shoes are newer than these slippers, so please wear these. 🥾”

Suddenly, it was as though he had become a different person…
“Please drink some warm soup and get warm.” 😰
He had completely changed.
…
About two hours later, the rain had stopped and the sky was getting light. 🌄
The man said,
“Thank you very much. Now I can go home without worry. 😄”
…
I walked him to the front of the shop. The moment he turned the corner of the shopping street,
I hurried after him 🏃‍♂️ and looked around the corner… 🧐
…
He had disappeared. He was nowhere to be seen.
I stood there stunned 😵 and went back inside.
My brother-in-law, who had been watching with bated breath, asked,
“How was it… is he still there❓️”
I answered,
“He was gone…”
…“What!? 😱💥 So he really was an angel‼️”
…
✳️ This is a true story.
Shalom 😃

This English page is a translation of the Japanese Morning Word published by At Home Church Okinawa. The Scripture quotation is from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB).