It was a stormy night in England in the mid of winter. A common lady was
sitting down to eat in her home that night when a knock came at the door. A
tall woman in a large overcoat and hat stood at the door, and said, “It
has begun to rain, and I was wondering if I could borrow an umbrella of
yours? I promise I’ll return it.” “Sure just a minute,” the lady replied. She
hurried to the back where she kept her umbrella. She had recently purchased a
new umbrella and had saved the old one, meaning to either throw it away or
give it away. She debated on which one to give the woman. She reasoned that
since she had been meaning to get rid of the older one anyway, she could
simply give it to the lady in the doorway. She grabbed the old, worn umbrella
that was missing a few pieces, and gave it to the lady. The woman thanked her
and was on her way. A few days later, the palace royal guard visited the
common lady’s home and returned to her the umbrella she had given the woman.
The woman had actually been the queen of England! Shocked and embarrassed,
the common lady lamented to the guards, “Oh, if I had only known it was the
queen, I would have given her my good umbrella.”
Just as this lady lamented “mistreating” the queen, how often do we mistreat
Christ? Consider Jesus’ words: “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have
done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me”
(Matthew 25:40). Christ tells us that how we treat others is how we treat
Him.—
We should consider these facts the next time we mistreat someone or look down
upon them. Our verses today remind us that God is not a respecter of persons.
Popularity, wealth, ability, or talent does not catch God’s eye and cause Him
to value one person over the other.(Paul Chappell)
