SEE THE REAL NEED

Acts 3:1-4a

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer--at three in the afternoon. Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John.

It's sometimes hard for us to look at people in need. We don't want to embarrass them by paying too much attention. Our society has taught us to not look. A person confined to a wheelchair since birth once wrote about how she felt invisible. She longed for a warm smile, or a friendly nod. She asked that we allow our children to touch her wheelchair and touch her -- to not treat her as if she had a communicable disease. Her wheelchair and her deformity were not her choices. She wanted us to know, there was a real living person inside the shell we saw, who had the need to be loved and accepted, as well as to love others.

When we see someone in need do we reach in our pocket for some loose change and run the other way, or do we look straight at him or her and see the real person hidden inside? Be honest with yourself, how do you feel around people who are not like you -- in wheelchairs, deformed, homeless, alcoholic/addict, or mentally retarded? Are you willing to really look at that person? Are you afraid of what you might see?

PocketPower.org