Show kindness

Read Genesis 24:12-27

"O Jehovah, the God of my master," he prayed, "show kindness to my master Abraham and help me to accomplish the purpose of my journey. See, here I am, standing beside this spring, and the girls of the village are coming out to draw water. This is my request: When I ask one of them for a drink and she says, 'Yes, certainly, and I will water your camels too!' - let her be the one you have appointed as Issac's wife. That is how I will know."

As he was still speaking to the Lord about this, a beautiful young girl named Rebekah arrived with a water jug on her shoulder and filled it at the spring. (Her father was Bethuel the son of Nabor and his wife Milcah.) Running over to her, the servant asked her for a drink.

"Certainly sir," she said, and quickly lowered the jug for him to drink. Then she said, "I'll draw water for your camels, too, until they have enough!" Genesis 24:12-19 (TLB)

In today's scripture, we read about Rebekah's generosity and kindness to Abraham's servant, who was a stranger to her. Her kindness eventually led her to marry Isaac.

When Faith Okello, from Kajiado County, Kenya, was younger, she also experienced the kindness of a stranger. Her family and Faith lived in South Africa, As a Kenyan, she knew well that she was a foreigner, and she was prepared to handle discrimination. One morning, they went to a distant mall with her dad to buy some equipment. When they got to the store, her dad was redirected to a nearby shop. They sat under a tree near the exit of the mall and waited for her dad. While they waited, a white man walked by multiple times and looked at them. They initially assumed he was lost, but after a while they became concerned, and her mother began praying. The man eventually approached them with a smile, had a short talk with Faith's mother, and offered to buy them lunch.

Faith was amazed by the man's kindness. That day, she decided to show kindness to strangers just as he showed kindness to Faith and her family. Let us all show kindness to a stranger today. We never know whose life we might change.

Prayer: Dear God, enable us to be kind to strangers so that they may experience your love through us and know that they are valued, in Jesus' name. Amen.