Sharing your Shelter

“Show hospitality to one another without complaining.” 

(1 Peter 4:9 ISV)

What comes to mind when you are told to show hospitality? Perhaps sharing a delicious meal with family and friends at your home? Showing friends a good fun time? Jesus wants us to know that showing hospitality goes much deeper than that. It’s not just about inviting family and friends over to your house for a great time but you must be willing to entertain strangers (see Hebrews 13:2) and those who might be considered the misfits of society – the disenfranchised, the undesirable, people who can never return the favour, and those who don’t normally receive an invitation (see Luke 14:12-14) – and to do so without complaining.

In the first verse of Luke chapter fourteen, we read that Jesus, invited to the home of a prominent Pharisee, was literally under surveillance by every single guest there. They watched Him carefully and cautiously, closely monitoring His every move. Can you imagine how uncomfortable that must have been for Jesus?

Jesus is not at all pleased when your home is not welcoming. Your home should be a place where anyone can find genuine warmth and acceptance; an open and loving home, where a person could find comfort, even refuge – a home that will draw people to Jesus.

Sharing your shelter is a practical way of expressing God’s love with others. Your genuine hospitality will demonstrate to your guests that not only do you care about them but more importantly, God cares about them. 

Sharing your shelter does not go unnoticed – God takes care of your daily needs enabling you to feed and accommodate all the people that come your way. This is what God’s Word says,

Share your food with everyone who is hungry; share your home with the poor and homeless. Give clothes to those in need; don’t turn away your relatives. Then your light will shine like the dawning sun, and you will quickly be healed. Your honesty will protect you as you advance, and the glory of the Lord will defend you from behind. When you beg the Lord for help, He will answer, “Here I am!”…Give your food to the hungry and care for the homeless. Then your light will shine in the dark; your darkest hour will be like the noonday sun. The Lord will always guide you and provide good things to eat when you are in the desert. He will make you healthy. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water or like a stream that never runs dry. 

(Isaiah 58:7-9, 10, 11 CEV)

Amen†

Sharing your Shelter    Shelley Johnson 13-Aug-2016