I Will Show Thee Kindness

Do you want to adopt? There are quite a number of people who are unable to have a child of their own and they opt for adoption. I wonder how people stay motivated especially in light of the long process that does not guarantee that you will get the precious gift. There is so much process involved that one may even consider giving up. Hold on, don’t give up just yet! Adoption is an act of love toward one who does not necessarily deserve the privileges that you wish to afford them; the act certainly does something to the one being adopted as well as the one who adopts. Imagine being at an orphanage or foster home for years and no one seems to be interested in you, that is what most children have to face daily.

Adoption means that the child is now like your very own; you provide and care for them as though the child is from your own bosom. I remember a time when we were looking for a dog; we wanted one just the right age (not too small and not too experienced) it had to be just right. Well we could not find one, God sent one. Just about 6 and 1/2 months, this puppy was abandoned, he had an owner who was quite negligent of him and often the puppy followed people just to get a crumb of bread.

One day the pup followed us home and we gave him some bread, which was the only thing we could offer him. Everyday this pup would come to our gate; we’d open up for him and give him food and water. So we decided that we would buy him dog food when we did our shopping, and we did, however; the puppy was nowhere to be found, he had disappeared for a week or two and every morning and evening like the father of the prodigal son, we would look outside the gate hoping to see our little friend.

One Sabbath morning, after a stormy night, we were having breakfast when we heard a bark at the gate. Hurriedly we looked outside and yes, it was him, he was back. Most of the weeks he was away, we prayed for his safety, we hoped he was still alive and would come back, though not human; he had already touched a chord of our affection. Matt went to open the gate and he (the pup) sped through to the usual place where he would find food and water, but we noticed that he had a large scar probably through some kind of abuse or accident. What a joyful experience it was for us to be able to nurse him back to health.

We kept him with us for about a week, however; he seemed depressed, it’s logical we reckoned he missed his owner, so we decided to contact his owner, but he was pretty much indifferent about the dog and his condition as well as getting him back. For about a month of fostering the puppy (buying him food, a house toys and spending time with him), we did not know whether the owner would claim him (we hoped he would not). We decided to make an arrangement to talk to the owner regarding snoopy, and we were glad to learn that he wanted us to keep him, but through that simple encounter about a dog the owner has expressed his desire come to church with us (we did not invite him and we did not tell him we were Christians).

2 Samuel 9 dawned on our minds, the very expressive story of Mephibosheth. How undeserving he was of King David’s consideration, yet David adopted him into his family. What sense does it make? Isn’t that our state? “Behold what manner of love, the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God…Beloved now are we the sons of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see Him as He is.” 1 Jn 3:1 God sent Jesus Christ to come and live with us and among us, in order to save us. He decided he would adopt us into His family through redemption. 

Just a side note, “And God said; let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion (“a territory or sphere of influence or control; a realm) over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Gen 1:26 God has given us dominion, and dominion means responsibility. It’s called stewardship, you guessed it, we are also stewards of God’s creatures. Who knows whom God might send your way? No one is beyond the reach, the mercy and the love of God. In our case God used a puppy in order to give us joy, but more importantly for us to indirectly appeal to the man’s need for a Saviour. Be careful who you turn away from your door step. “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.” Proverbs 12:10.

Reach Out and Touch

“And being moved with compassion, He (Jesus) stretched out His hand, and touched him, and said to him, I am willing; be made clean.” Mark 1:41 (RV)

The account of Jesus with the leper is very close to my heart. I am especially intrigued by the leper’s sincerity when he approaches Jesus and from his speech one can almost see the trial of his life. The leper could have been you or me, he may have been to different physicians, the best of the best specialists, homeopaths, or perhaps in his last resort he even visited witch doctors, but still “there was no hope; there was nothing anyone could do.” The leper’s years of disappointment to and from the hospital, the church (synagogue) and wherever else he may have gone, leads him to enquire about a man they called Jesus. With little or no hope of ever being healed he approaches Jesus and utters those touching words of a sin-sick soul, and at the feet of the Saviour he pleads “if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Among the symptoms of leprosy, is the loss of sensation on the hands and feet, one may cut, burn, and prick or injure oneself without feeling pain. The long-term effect which is infection to the area/s untreated can possibly lead to a slow, miserable death as the organs shut down. Due to the contagious nature of the disease, lepers were removed from society and lived in isolation. Do you know of a leper? The leprosy of sin makes us numb to the sensation of the Holy Spirit and leads us to spiritual death; this disease also has the ability of making us numb to the needs of others, we somehow become forgetful of God’s blueprint as in Matthew 22:37-39. “Our High Priest is not one who cannot feel the sympathy of our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin.” Hebrews 4:15

In the same way that Jesus experiences the pain caused by our sin-sickness, the tears He sheds and the broken heartedness He feels when we wander off with the enemy, we are to manifest the same spirit of service to others, for while we help others as Matthew 25:36-40 says, God works on refining our characters for eternity. There is healing in serving.