Matthew 25:45

Hiking up the volcano in Antigua is an experience I will remember for a lifetime for two reasons. The first reason is probably what you would expect- I will remember the beauty of it, the amazing sites I saw. The second reason I will remember the volcano is something I wasn’t expecting- I will remember the children there, the children who begged us to buy a stick for five quetzals, who begged us for food and money. I have never experienced something like it. We got off the bus and we were attacked by little boys, pleading with us to buy a stick. They were selling them five quetzals, which is the equivalent of less than one American dollar. There was urgency in their eyes, but I didn’t buy a stick.

After finishing the hike, we went to the tienda (store) to get some snacks. Boys and girls again were pleading with us, except instead of selling sticks, they were just begging for food and money. By this time, it was 7:30 at night and we were all hungry. I bought a bag of chips and a candy bar for myself and a bag of chips for one of my teammates. As I was buying the food, a little boy said, “for me?” My heart broke. I bought a second bag of chips and gave it to him, hoping that he would share with the other kids. He ran away with the bag. My heart broke again because there must have been ten or fifteen other kids who I didn’t give anything to. I got on the bus and left, thinking about what just happened. I couldn’t help but wonder why I didn’t feed all of them. I had the money to do so.

So why didn’t I feed all of them? I think part of it was that I was overwhelmed with everything. I didn’t know where to start. The other part of it was that the devil got it in my mind that it wasn’t my job to feed the children, that other people would do it if I didn’t. But a passage in Matthew kept coming to mind. If you have a Bible near you flip to Matthew 25:31-46. The verse that kept repeating in my head was Matthew 25:45, “Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, anything you refused to do for even the least of my people here, you refused to do for me.’”

The reality is that Matthew 25:45 was speaking directly at me and I didn’t listen. I didn’t feed the least of these. And as much as I want to go back and redo that night, I can’t. I know many of you are probably thinking, “Kathy, you can’t put that burden on yourself. You did help one of the boys and that was more than what others did.” But that is a lie. Jesus commanded us to care for the least of these, to feed them and to care for them. I can’t go back to that night, but I can go forward, always remembering Matthew 25:45 AND acting on it. As I look for opportunities to do that, I encourage you to do the same. When you see someone in need, remember what God commanded us to do. And remember, it’s not a burden, it’s a gift. God blessed us richly so that we can help his children.