Devotions from Jan Johnson’s book

Jesus emphasized the practice of welcoming the stranger as he welcomed all kinds of people into His life and identified with them.  He challenges us to welcome others with His love, and to do that we have to let go of self-absorption and our indifference to people that are not in “our group”. They may fit into the category of outcasts like the lepers, or wrongdoers like Zacchaeus, or people longing for a home like Jesus parents when they fled to Egypt. Or it could be anyone who is not like us, newcomers, or anyone in power-down positions. As it says in Romans 12:16 “”Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with the nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.”  To befriend someone normally overlooked may transform us. We learn from them how not to be haughty or think we’re wiser than we are. We can open our selves to them and be willing to be helped by them. The Lord wants to help us cultivate a welcoming heart and let His love flow out of us into others.  Who are the strangers in our lives that Jesus wants to love through us?