Ruth looked at the letter one more time. There was
no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address. She read the letter on more time...
Dear Ruth,
I am going to be in your neighborhood Saturday afternoon and I'd like
to stop by for a visit.
Love always,
Jesus
Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on
the table. "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 have
to run to the store and buy something for dinner."
She reached for her purse and counted out its
contents. Five dollars and forty-five cents. "Well, I can get some bread and cold
cuts, at least." She threw on her coat and hurried out the door.
A loaf of French bread, a half-pound of sliced
turkey and a carton of milk...leaving Ruth with a grand total of twelve cents to last her
until Monday. Nonetheless, she felt good as she headed home, her meager offerings tucked
under her arm.
"Hey lady! Can you help us, lady?" Ruth
had been so absorbed in her dinner plans that she hadn't even noticed the two figures
huddled in the alleyway. A man and a woman, both of them dressed in little more than rags.
"Look, lady, I ain't got a job, ya know, and
my wife and I have been living out here on the street, and ,well, now it's gettin' cold
and we're gettin' kinda hungry, and, if you could help us, lady, we'd really appreciate
it."
Ruth looked at them both. They were dirty, they
smelled bad and frankly she was sure that they could get some kind of work if they really
wanted to. "Sir, I'd like to help you, but I'm a poor woman myself. All I have is a
few cold cuts and some bread, and I'm having an important guest for dinner tonight and I
was planning on serving that to Him."
"Yeah, well, okay lady. I understand. Thanks
anyway." The man put his arm around the woman's shoulders, turned, and headed back
into the alley.
As she watched them leave, she felt a familiar
twinge 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'll figure out something
to serve my guest." She handed the man her grocery bag.
"Thank you, lady. Thank you very much!"
"Yes, thank you!" It was the man's wife and Ruth could see that now that she was
shivering.
"You know, I've got 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
her coat and with nothing to serve her guest. "Thank you, lady! Thank you very
much!"
Ruth was chilled by the time she reached her front
door, and worried too. The Lord was coming to visit and she didn't have to offer Him. She
fumbled through her purse for the door key. But as she did, she noticed another envelope
in her mailbox. "That's odd. The mailman doesn't usually come twice in one day."
She took the envelope out of the box and opened it...
Dear Ruth,
It was so good to see you again. Thank you for the lovely meal.
And thank you too, for the beautiful coat.
Love always,
Jesus
The air was still cold, but even without her coat,
Ruth no longer noticed.
"...I tell you the truth, whatever you did for
the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." -Matthew 25:40 NIV
