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The tramp answered, “Yeah! You can give me a hug!” (To tell the truth, I was hoping
for the five dollars.)
He put his arms around me and I put my arms around him. Then suddenly I realised
something. He wasn’t going to let me go! People were passing us on the sidewalk. They
were staring at me. There I was, dressed in establishment garb, hugging this dirty,
filthy tramp! I was embarrassed. I didn’t know what to do. Then, little by little, my
embarrassment changed to awe and reverence. I heard a voice echoing down the
corridors of time saying “I was hungry; did you feed Me? I was naked; did you clothe
Me? I was sick; did you care for Me? I was the tramp you met on Chestnut Street…did
you hug Me? For if you did it to the least of these, you did it unto Me.””
This story beautifully illustrates the mystical nature of Jesus being found in people,
more specifically in the poor and the downtrodden. For us to change our minds
about how to treat these people, we need to put on the mind of Christ and begin to
see Jesus in those that are around us and understand full well the value that He
places upon ALL human beings.
Prayer Thought: Today, won’t you ask God to reveal to you if you maybe need a
change of mind as it relates to the poor and the naked. I know that this can make all of
us feel somewhat uncomfortable, but that’s ok, let’s be courageous enough to do it
anyway.

Tuesday
Matthew 5 v 38 – 48
The passage above would have to be considered to be one of themost radical
teachings of Jesus as it relates to our daily living. The fact that we would give “the
shirt off our back” for the cause of Christ in today’s world, is nothing short of
ludicrous. The philosophy of the world in which we live is “more is more”; Jesus’
teaching here is apparently the opposite.
The question that we have to confront today is the question of motive: why would
we see it a need to clothe the naked? The first reason I would point you to is found
in Genesis 3 v 21 and is very simply that GOD DID IT; “The Lord God made garments
of skin for Adam and his wife and [HE] clothed them.” We see here how God sets the
pace for us that He, seeing the nakedness of Adam and Eve, took it upon Himself to
meet their particular need. He did this despite their failure; He did not send them on
a guilt trip and gi ٔ