Peace be to you, my dear friends!Today I want to continue on the importance of hospitality and generosity that we started to talk about yesterday. We discussed the fact that due to his hospitality Abraham received a confirmation or a seal on the promise that was given to him by God concerning his heir. Abraham opened up his heart, his home and his hand to total strangers. He ministered to these people to the best of his ability and through it he received his miracle.I would like us to consider another example, which illustrates the very same principle – the principle of hospitality, because through hospitality we open the door for God’s intervention into our lives.
«Now it happened one day that Elisha went to Shunem, where there was a notable woman, and she persuaded him to eat some food. So it was, as often as he passed by, he would turn in there to eat some food. And she said to her husband, “Look now, I know that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us regularly. Please, let us make a small upper room on the wall; and let us put a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; so it will be, whenever he comes to us, he can turn in there.» (2 Kings, 4:8-10).
In this passage of Scripture we read that the woman who welcomed Elisha into her house was wealthy, but she had one problem – she did not have any children. Later we will see how a miracle comes into her life. This woman was an open person. When she saw that Elisha often passes her home she opened it for him, a holy man of God, set up a very comfortable place for him and served him. She was very hospitable.«And it happened one day that he came there, and he turned in to the upper room and lay down there. Then he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite woman.” When he had called her, she stood before him. And he said to him, “Say now to her, ‘Look, you have been concerned for us with all this care. What can I do for you? Do you want me to speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’” She answered, “I dwell among my own people.” So he said, “What then is to be done for her?” And Gehazi answered, “Actually, she has no son, and her husband is old.” So he said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood in the doorway. Then he said, “About this time next year you shall embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord. Man of God, do not lie to your maidservant!” But the woman conceived, and bore a son when the appointed time had come, of which Elisha had told her» (2 Kings, 4:11-17).
Having a child had been the deepest desire of this woman, but by that time she had already buried this dream and was not thinking about it. When she was asked what she desired for, she did not know what to say because she had accepted the fact of not being able to have children. But because of her hospitality, her openness, her sacrificial heart this woman unknowingly connected to God’s intervention and God gave her a child.The Bible repeatedly tells us to be hospitable. Let’s look at one of these Scriptures:
«Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels» (Hebrews, 13:1-2).
When we are hospitable, when we are willing to help people and to share with them what we have, when we do everything in our power to make our guests feel comfortable, when we minister to people from the bottoms of our hearts, then we, as God says, unwittingly show hospitality to angels that bring God’s gifts and blessings to people. By casting people off, we can also reject God’s angels.The Word of God for today is: be hospitable and God will bless you because of it!Be blessed!Pastor Rufus Ajiboye
