"Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon." - Isaiah 58:10 (NLT)


I love the story of the "fourth" wise man. Tradition says he left with the other three to follow the star in search of the newborn king of the Jews. But as they traveled this fourth wise man was constantly being distracted by people they met along the way who needed help. He would send the other three ahead and catch up with them within a day or two. But when the other three reached Bethlehem, the fourth wise man was nowhere to be found.

Many years later, the fourth wise man arrived in Jerusalem-three days after the crucifixion of Jesus. He mourned and wept, grieving the fact that the King he had come to worship had already grown up and had been put to death. He had spent 30 years helping others in need and had missed the One he had most wanted to see.

Then something extraordinary happened. On the third day after his arrival in Jerusalem, Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to the fourth wise man. The wise man started to apologize for not having arrived on time to worship Him at His birth. Jesus said to him: "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me" (Matt. 25:35-36). Every person has a God-ordained purpose and a destiny in life to fulfill. As you reach out and touch those people God puts in your path, you will be fulfilling part of your purpose, no matter what else you are called to do. When you respond faithfully to any opportunity God sets before you, there is no higher purpose than to fulfill it.

There is no greater fulfillment of purpose than to reach out and help someone in need.

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Help me, Lord, to see the needs around me and to be Your hands and Your heart to those who need to feel Your special touch in their lives today. Amen.
R.S