joyce54aa@swoidup.net

I often wonder if I have entertained an angel unaware. This scripture has given me many sleepless nights. Have you ever had someone come up and talk to you and then all at once, they were just gone? Could God have placed an angel in our path to see how we would react?

Hebrew 13:1&2, Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. This is a sweet and powerful scripture that allows us to really think about our actions with strangers.

Many years ago, as were preparing to leave for church one Sunday morning our doorbell rang. A young man and woman were standing  outside our door. They asked if we had any yard work that they could do. My husband had done all of the work the afternoon before and there wasn't anything left to do. As they turned to leave, I invited them in, but they said no thank you, that they really needed to find some work. They said that they were willing to work hard, but hadn't been able to find anything.

I asked them why they chose our house and they said that someone told them to come see us, but they couldn't remember their names. We didn't have any work, but we told them that we could give them some
money and that we might have some work for them to do in a few days.The young woman thanked us, and said with tears in her eyes, "God bless both of you." We thought we might see them around town, but we never did. I asked the neighbors about them, but no one else had seen them.

Did we entertain angels that Sunday morning? I don't know. Many people said, "oh well, they just probably wanted money for drugs or alcohol." They may have been right, but there was no way that I could have turned them away,not knowing for sure if they really needed help or not. We did what we felt was the right thing to do.

When our hearts are right, God blesses that action. If we keep the thought in our minds and on our hearts, that we might be entertaining angels,we will become better people. Most of the time the first verse isn't mentioned,but it tells us in simple words how we should act toward strangers. It says for us to show brotherly love to strangers, not just to those that we know and love. Treating strangers with kindness, dignity, and respect, no matter what situation they are in or what their needs are, will honor God's Word and strengthen our spirit. It is a beautiful and powerful scripture that should keep
us wondering when we encounter strangers, if we might be entertaining
angels unaware.

Copyright 2005 by Joyce Balentine