PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Matthew 10:40-42

What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?

“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and… the one who sent me.” (Matthew 10:40)
God created us to re-present Him, to be ‘like God’ in the world to the world.
When we live like God (ie good, loving, merciful, faithful, etc), we reflect God.
Anyone who welcomes this goodness, even if they don’t know God, welcomes God.
Even if they offer kindness to a disciple of Jesus, they will be rewarded by God.
The assumption here is that the disciple is indeed reflecting God and Jesus.
When Haitian slaves rebelled against their ‘Christian’ rulers, they weren’t rejecting God.
They were rejecting servants of Satan who enslaved, abused and murdered them.
Can we blame them that they also rejected the God they claimed to represent?
We are sent by God to bring His light (love, goodness) into the world.
We are sent to draw people back to Him, through repentance, faith and obedience.
As they see His light shining in us, they will either be drawn to it, or resist it.
This is how Jesus loved people, and why so many ‘sinners’ welcomed Him.
My job is not to save people; my job is to love and serve and bless people in grace.
I want to be the kind of person that helps people welcome Jesus and God.
PRAYER
Lord, I cannot reflect You without Your help. Even then, I do so imperfectly. May people not be turned off of You because of me; may people be drawn to welcome You, as I re-present You to them!