Real Hospitality

Hi friends, and thank you for joining us for today's Our Daily Bread. Our reading is titled, Real Hospitality, and it was written by Karen Huang. Kuman kanabaya?

Have you eaten? This is what you'll always hear as a visitor in many homes in the Philippines where I'm from. It's the Filipino way of expressing care and kindness for our guests. And regardless of your reply, your host will always prepare something for you to eat.

Filipinos believe that true kindness isn't just saying the standard greeting, but also going beyond words to show real hospitality. Genesis chapter 24 tells us that Rebecca too knew all about being kind. Her daily chores included drawing water from the well outside town and carrying the heavy jar of water home. When Abraham's servant, who was very thirsty from his journey, asked for a little water from her jar, she didn't hesitate to give him a drink. But then Rebecca did even more. When she saw that the visitor's camels were thirsty, she quickly offered to go back to draw more water for them.

She didn't hesitate to help, even if it meant making an extra trip or more to the well and back with a heavy jar. Life is tough for many people and often a small gesture of practical kindness can encourage them and lift their spirits. Being a channel of God's love doesn't always mean delivering a powerful sermon or planting a church.

Sometimes it can simply be giving someone a drink of water. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Genesis chapter 24 verses 12 through 20. Then he prayed, Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a young woman, please let down your jar that I may have a drink, and she says, drink, and I'll water your camels too. Let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac.

By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master. Before he had finished praying, Rebecca came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor. The woman was very beautiful, a virgin.

No man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again. The servant hurried to meet her and said, please give me a little water from your jar. Drink, my Lord, she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. After she had given him a drink, she said, I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.

So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water and drew enough for all his camels. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, open our eyes to the needs of people around us and give us the wisdom to know how to show kindness and care to them. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.