“Be sure to give to the Lord the best portions of the gifts given to you.” (Numbers 18:29 NLT)
The story is told of a time in the late Queen Elizabeth’s life when she asked her chauffeur to take her for a ride in the country. Then she asked him to pull over so she could just take a little walk by herself. No crown, no gown – dressed down. So, for a few golden moments, the queen was just an ordinary lady, taking a walk in the country. She’d gone out about a mile down the road when this sudden rain shower opened up. The queen knocked on the door of a small hut that was nearby.
She asked the lady if she had an umbrella. The lady actually had two umbrellas – a tattered, battered old umbrella and a brand new one. She gave her the beat-up umbrella. This is the queen, but she doesn’t know that of course. The queen promised it would be returned the next day.
Well, you’ve got to imagine the scene as a uniformed chauffeur pulls up in the royal limousine, goes to the door of the hut the next day and announces, “I’m returning this for the queen.” Needless to say, the woman was in shock. All she could say was, “If I had known it was for the queen, I would have given her my best!”
How like us in the daily moments of our lives. Bumping into Jesus on the streets of our cities and country sides, mistaking Him for a common person. I’ve learned to look into people’s eyes. Eyes don’t lie. Most people, if they’re lying, won’t look you in the eyes.
At a very low point in my life, I went to a work-related event at a nice hotel. As I approached the entrance a man in a uniform walked toward me. I assumed he was a doorman and was going to offer assistance, but instead he began speaking to me in ways that seemed very strange. He said: “Now here comes a real leader.” I literally turned around to see who he was talking about, but then realized he was speaking to me.
He continued by saying affirming things about me, none of which I was feeling or believing about myself. I basically ignored him and walked into the building. But within 3-5 minutes, realizing I should apologize and thank him, I went back out the same door, but didn’t see him. I searched the lobby area and every other place where doormen were serving but couldn’t find him. Was he Jesus in disguise?
Can it be we miss opportunities to give our best because we don’t believe we have any “best” to give? We shun or ignore those who are seeking to speak life, health, and inspiration into us and by so doing, miss the voice of God. Too often we mistakenly believe the way we feel about ourselves is the way God sees us, never stopping to realize we’re perfect in God’s sight because He sees us through the sinless perfection of His Son.
We tend to treat Jesus as an honored guest in our life, but rarely if ever bother to introduce Him to others. In our mind there’s such a huge contrast between who Jesus is and who we are, it’s like we don’t want to stain His reputation by letting anyone else know He lives in us. We’ve got to get over ourselves and offer others the best that we have – Jesus!
Like me on the day “Jesus” spoke to me at the hotel entrance, there are people we see every day who need a fresh word from God spoken through our lips. It’s ironic, but I find when I speak kindness, love, joy, peace, and other manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit into someone else’s life, it lifts me and enables me to see Jesus more clearly.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 