By Peter Kennedy
“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.” – 1 Corinthians 10:23-24.
On the morning of November 14, 2017, Baltimore County Police officer Max Mills responded to a call about smoke in a wooded area. A homeless man said he had started a fire to keep warm.
“When we got there, the guy was just standing there with his eyes closed, and he was mumbling,” Officer Mills said. “So I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was praying for food.”
The man was 28 to 30 years old, Mills said, and about 6 feet, 6 inches tall — the officer described the man as a “gentle giant — so quiet and easy to deal with.”
The officer took the man to the Westside Men’s Shelter to have his clothes washed and get him something to eat, he said. Mills said he spoke to the person running the shelter to make sure they had space for the man.
The officer said he noticed that the man’s shoes were worn. The man told Mills that he had walked from Pennsylvania. Mills said he went to Walmart, where the manager agreed to donate the store’s last pair of size 14 shoes.
“I went to hand him the shoes, and he wouldn’t even put his hand out,” Mills said. “I think he was shocked that somebody was helping him, and he stood there and cried. That’s what shocked me.”
Never grow tired in doing good to others.
Today in prayer, ask Jesus to increase your love for others and to seek their good.
“To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it.” – G.K. Chesterton
God’s Word: “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” – Philippians 2:4.
