Men As Trees...

Special thanks to my pastor for bringing this thought back to my mind!

I see them all over the place around my area. On street corners, shopping center driveways, or exit ramps, hardly a day passes without seeing a homeless person. They may be hoping for just a little food, a little cash, even work. And, even for a Spirit-filled Christian, it's really easy to just let these people fade into the scenery of the city. We make excuses, we ignore them, or we blame them for their own problems. But one thing I can't get past is that these are not faceless beings, but real people, created in the image of God. These are people for whom Christ died.

This morning, as my pastor preached about bringing in the harvest, he mentioned a curious passage in Mark chapter 8, in which Jesus actually laid hands on a blind guy two times. Check it out:

And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, "Do you see anything?" And he looked up and said, "I see men, but they look like trees, walking."
Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Mark 8:22-25

When Jesus did this miracle, he may not have had in mind the homeless. Perhaps he was making a deeper spiritual point. But I think the what the Lord did illustrates what my point today is. Too many who have felt the hand of the Lord need another touch by him. We look around and see the homeless, the hurting, and we walk away. They become faceless entities that fade into the landscape. We see them, but we can't see them for who they are-real people that the Lord died for.

You know, Jesus said that when the end has come, and he is doling out rewards to his people, he will first separate the sheep and the goats. The sheep he blesses because of their care for those in need, and the goats he rebukes and condemns for their lack of concern. I don't want to find myself standing before the Lord Jesus at the end and find out just how calloused I was. I want to do everything I can to bless the Lord be blessing them now.

Let's look for those opportunities to be the Lord's hand in these precious peoples lives. I'm not talking about money, but simply helping those who need it.

God bless!