“I was a stranger and you invited me in.”

“I was a stranger and you invited me in.”

I open the door—a toddler, terrified, unable to cry or even move. I open the door—a mother, bobbing with nervous energy and awkward excitement. I open the door—a teenager, shyly smiling, looking to please.
I invited them in.

I’ve—quite literally—given food and drink to the hungry and thirsty, provided a home to the homeless, clothed the naked, nursed the sick, and visited the imprisoned as a foster parent.

Matthew 25:40 dramatically pulls the curtain on the eternal behind the scenes. I see that each of these small acts was so much more than an act of service to
the person before me. “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

These are the words of the King, spoken from “his glorious throne” (v. 31) after “the Son of Man comes in his glory” (v. 31). This is what He will say on that day—the one we’re all living for and racing toward—when we will see Him face-to-face.

I say we live with this in view today. If everything we do for them is actually done for Him, then let’s shift our minds’ eye to seeing Him in all of our serving.

All of your love, all of your work, all of the giving and serving and doing is always about more than the ones you’re doing it for. It’s always ultimately about Him. And for all that you do for them, He will say to you, “You did it for me.”
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Excerpt from Filled: 60 Devotions for the Foster Parent’s Heart