Let brotherly love continue.  Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.  Hebrews 13:1-2 HCSB

One of the hardest things for me to do is love someone who is unlovable.  Now don’t go all self-righteous on me and act like you have no idea what I’m talking about.  God put all different types of people in the world and in His universal church we will encounter many different types of personalities.  We will encounter people with issues that make us angry and issues that make us uncomfortable to say the least.  We will encounter people that are very different from us.

But nowhere in the Bible will you find a verse that instructs us to love the people that are like us.  In all actuality I think this is the very reason that God makes us attracted to people that are very different from us.  Most of my friends are highly organized, go figure.  Now is that because God has a great sense of humor?  Well, I think he probably does.  But I also think he knows that had we not been made that way, we would all cluster in little groups of like people.  Where is the fun in that?

But the problem comes in when people are extremely different from us in a way that makes us wonder a bit.  You know like maybe they have disabilities that make us uncomfortable.  Maybe we have different opinions on issues.  Now of course, your opinion is very important to you, just as their opinion is very important to them.  The bottom line is, we all want to be loved and accepted.

We often judge people by the way they look or present themselves.  But I want to ask you a question.  What if God sent this total stranger into your life as a test to see how you would treat someone different.  Two years ago, I was involved in a spiritual war and was getting weary.  I had been praying and many of my prayer warriors had been praying for me as well.  But this war just seemed to keep dragging on.  I went to church that Sunday morning and did not follow my usual routine.  Normally I would go and put my things in my classroom and bring my niece to her classroom.  For some reason that day, I brought my niece first while I left my things in the car.  As I returned to my car in the parking lot a small red sedan pulled backed up from the red light and pulled in next to me.  I thought this young man may want to know service times or something like that as he rolled his window down.  It was obvious that he needed to speak with me.  But what he said was this, “I don’t know who you are, but God told me that you have been praying for something for a while now and He wants you to know that He hears your prayers and He will answer them”.  So I just said “thank you”, and  stood there dumbfounded.  He told me to have a nice day and I reached into my vehicle to get my books.  In the 2-3 seconds that it took for me to grab my books, I looked back up and he was gone.  I had never seen him before and I have not seen him since.  I had never experienced anything like this before.  Now, was he an angel sent to deliver this message to me?  Was he just a regular person like you or me that God used to get a message to me?  I don’t know.

But what I do know is that God commands us to love others.  There are no exceptions listed there.  In Matthew 22:38-40, Jesus tells the Pharisees and the Sadducees, that the greatest command is to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, and mind and that the second greatest command was to love your neighbor as yourself.  In doing so, this fulfills all the Law and the Prophets.

Have you ever heard of a mystery shopper?  In this job, you are paid to shop and eat at various stores and restaurants and then give your opinion on your shopping or dining experience. I never took the job, but now if you look at your receipts, stores and restaurants are offering cash prizes and gift certificates if you are willing to take a minute and go online and complete a brief survey.  They want to know how their employees are doing.

So, does God, who knows and see all,  send angels down among us to see how we treat others? This verse clearly states that and I believe the Bible, so I am going to answer that with a “yes”.   So what if that angel is someone that looks a little weird to you?  What if that angel is someone who smells a little weird to you?  What if that angel strikes you as a bit odd?  How will you respond?

Now coming from a law enforcement background, let me say this.  We need to be safe and we need to keep our children safe at all costs.  We should always be cautious.  But we are to love all people.  We are also told in 1 Thessalonians 5:22 to avoid every kind of evil.  So we must approach people with caution.  But take time to evaluate them and show them kindness. Pray for discernment and wisdom. The Bible tells us that we are to inspect the fruit of others (Matthew 7:15-20). In the case of those that are evil, you should pray for them and love them from a safe distance.

But remember, you can’t always judge a book by the cover, because they just might be an angel in disguise.

Have a great day!