“If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. IN DOING THIS, YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD, AND THE LORD WILL REWARD YOU.” (Prov. 25:21-22) [I used to think “this is a way to get back at my enemy” but then as I became more and more filled with the spirit of Jesus, I understood that Jesus came to save our enemies just as He did us. Then I read “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21) In verse 20 Paul quotes the above mentioned Proverb. Sometime ago I read about the practice of helping someone who comes to your home, whose fire had gone out, which means they could not prepare food nor warm their home for their family so, the friend would place “hot coals” in a pottery container, which they would carry on their head, hence “heap burning coals on their head”, an awesome act of kindness! “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. BE CAREFUL TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT IN THE EYES OF EVERYONE.“ (Rom. 12:16-17) It is by the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, that our souls are maintained in life; and the greatest mercy of all is that Christ has made His body and His soul, an offering for sin, He gave Himself for us and gives Himself to us. Now surely we can do right by one another for the Lord’s sake! What shall we give? Let us give ourselves as an acknowledgment of all these awesome blessings – all we are, all we have, all we can do!
JUST AS YOU RECEIVED CHRIST JESUS AS LORD, CONTINUE TO LIVE YOUR LIVES IN HIM!
-Bill Stockham