June 24, 2024 Devo

Wanda and I got married while I was still in college in Houston, Texas. One day when we were looking out of our apartment window, we saw an older woman scavenging through the dumpster looking for food. It broke our hearts. We quickly grabbed some fruit out of the refrigerator and made a bologna sandwich and took them down to her. We introduced ourselves and told her we had some for her if she would like to have it. She received it gratefully. She told us her name was Eleanor and that she was named after Eleanor Roosevelt. I don’t remember much else of what she said, except that she had lived a fascinating life. What I DO remember was it was the first time that I saw someone who was homeless as a “person.” She had a name. She had a story. She had a sweet smile and a warm personality. I think up until then I thought of people who lived on the streets as “bums” or drug addicts. I was naïve and ignorant. Eleanor taught me differently.
How you see people changes how you talk to people, how you respond to people, and how much compassion you have toward them. If you see them as labels, or stereotypes, or in a category, you’ll see them as “objects.” But everything changes when you see them as children of God, created in His image, to be loved and valued.
When Jesus asked the woman at the well for a drink, notice how she immediately went to the labels and stereotypes. You’re a man. You’re a Jew. I’m a woman. I’m a Samaritan. She said those things because that’s what she was used to. Jesus rocked her world by treating her as His Heavenly Father created her to be. A person worthy of grace and kindness.
Let’s make that our prayer. “Father, help us to see every person we meet this week as one of your precious children. We all have a past. We have quirks and issues. And we’ve all fallen short because of sin. But help us lay aside the labels. Help us lay aside the stereotypes. Help us to see through all the biases and prejudices that we’ve picked up along the way. Help us to see others the way Jesus saw the woman at the well. Just another Eleanor who needed a friend. In your name we pray, amen.” That’s God’s Word for you today.