Put Your Service to the Test!

Today's Battle Drill Devotional: Put Your Service to the Test!

Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. 1 Peter 4:9.

 

Read 1 Peter 4:1-11. Do you remember the Disney film, Beauty and the Beast? A French prince is cursed and turned into a hideous beast by an enchantress who warned him not to judge by appearances and he sits in his dark, foreboding castle for over 10 years, wondering if the curse will ever be broken. A beautiful young peasant woman, Belle ends up at the castle one day, waking up the beast’s enchanted household items, who are excited at being able to serve someone again after so many years, and so they sing the catchy song, Be our Guest!

 

Peter encourages us to cheerfully say to our fellow believers, Be our Guest! Christian hospitality differs from “entertaining.” When we’re entertaining, the focus is on us. We want to be the host or hostess with the most. Our home has to be clean and spotless. The food must be perfect. We must appear to be relaxed and good-humoured, whatever’s happening in the kitchen! But when it comes to showing hospitality to our fellow Christians, like the enchanted household items, we must focus on the guests, not on ourselves. We must focus on their needs – whether they need time, comfort, a listening ear, nourishing food, or just acceptance. And all those things can happen whether our home is tidy or a mess, whether our food is homemade or out of a tin, and whether we are too tired or too busy or with plenty of time on our hands.

 

When you cheerfully open your home to fellow believers, it draws you closer to them. Where do you see a need to practice hospitality today?

 

THINK IT OVER

Think about the following:

Who could you open your home to today? What do you think they need from you?