Jesus often disguises his visits

I want to thank a reader from sending me the following:

Ruth went to her mailbox and picked up her only letter. She looked at it and noticed it had no stamp or postmark, only her name and address.

The letter read: “Dear Ruth: I am going to be in your neighborhood Saturday afternoon and I would like to visit.

Love always, Jesus.”

Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on the table.

“Was this a joke? Why would the Lord want to visit me? I’m nobody special. I don’t have anything to offer.” With that thought, Ruth remembered her empty kitchen cabinets.

“Oh my goodness, I really don’t have anything to offer. I’ll run down to the store and buy something for dinner.”

She reached for her purse and counted her money. Seven dollars and forty cents. “Well, I can get some bread and cold cuts, at least.”

She threw on her coat and hurried out the door. After buying a loaf of French bread, a half-pound of sliced turkey, and a carton of milk, Ruth had a grand total of twelve cents to last her until Monday. Nonetheless, she felt good as she headed home with her meager offerings.

“Hey, lady, can you help us?” Ruth had been so absorbed in her dinner plans, she had not noticed a man and a woman, both poorly clothed, huddled in the alleyway.

“Lady, I haven’t got a job, and my wife and I have been living on the street, and it is getting cold. We are hungry and, if you could help us, we would really appreciate it.”

Ruth looked at them both. They were dirty, they smelled bad and frankly, she was certain that they could get some kind of work if they really tried hard enough.

“Sir, I would like to help you, but I am a poor woman myself. All I have is a few cold cuts and some bread, and I am having an important guest for dinner tonight. I was planning to serve that to him.”

“Yeah, well, OK lady, I understand. Thanks anyway.” The man put his arm around the woman’s shoulders, turned and he headed back into the alley.

As she watched them leave, Ruth felt a familiar twitch in her heart. “Sir, wait!”

The couple stopped and turned as she ran down the alley after them. “Look, why don’t you take this food. I will figure out something else to serve my guest.” She handed the man her grocery bag.

“Thank you, Lady. Thank you very much!”

“Yes, thank you!” said the wife.

Ruth could see that she was shivering. “Listen, I have another coat at home. Here, why don’t you take this one.”

Ruth unbuttoned her jacket and slipped it over the woman’s shoulders. Then smiling, she turned and walked back to the street without anything to serve her guest.

“Thank you, Lady! Thank you very much!”

Ruth was shivering by the time she reached her front door, and worried, too. The Lord was coming to visit and she did not have anything to offer him.

As she fumbled through her purse for the door key, she noticed another envelope in her mailbox. “That’s odd. The mail carrier doesn’t usually come twice in one day.”

She took the envelope out of the box and opened it.

“Dear Ruth: I enjoyed seeing you again. Thank you for the lovely meal and the beautiful coat. Love always, Jesus.”

Jesus told us that “Whatever we do to the least of his brothers or sisters, you do to me.” (Matt. 25:40) How do we treat Jesus when he visits us?

Hope you have a great Labor Day weekend!