I recently picked up the Times-Union newspaper and began to leaf through it. I noticed a "letter to the editor" from a 40-year-old young man who has been incarcerated since he was 17 years old, in the Love Lock Correctional Facilities in Nevada, formerly from the Warsaw area.
My heart dropped when I saw it was a plea for someone, in fact anyone, to write letters to him. As he expressed his loneliness to have someone show concern for him, my heart began to ache. As I read between the lines, what he was really saying was "does anyone out there love me?" I knew immediately God was speaking directly to my heart to respond. I could not wait to sit down and start typing him a letter letting him know, not only how much God loved him, but that I loved him, too. I began to think about Matthew 25:31-46.
We all too often think about those who are hungry, the thirsty, the naked and the sick, but how often do we think about the rest of that scripture "a stranger and those in prison"? (Mt. 40)
Jesus said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me."
I have been involved in the jail ministry in the past and I have written several inmates in prison. I have learned there is a great need for these people to know that they are still loved, no matter what they have done, and can be forgiven. God's love is not like ours, it is "unconditional," meaning it cannot be earned or deserved. People who are incarcerated need to know they are still loved. In short, they need to have hope. Some have even been disowned by their own flesh and blood. How sad!
We need to remember, God doesn't label sins small, medium and large like pizzas. In His eyes a sin is a sin! Not one is any worse than another.
Maybe we need to think about some of the things we have done in the past and start having more compassion for others. The only difference might be, some have been caught in the act and others of us have not.
I believe God loves us so much, that sometimes He refuses to let us keep going down that same old path of self-destruction and He intervenes. Sometimes separating us from everything and everybody is the only way He can get our attention. It's in those times when we are in our darkest, deepest despair and loneliness that we call out to Him. Then and only then, will we listen. I know there have been times like that in my life and I am sure there have been in yours too.
At this point you might be thinking, it's not my problem, they got themselves put there, why should I care? Think again, are we not to be "our brothers keeper"? One never knows, how we would feel if it were one of our loved ones?
I want to encourage you as you read this article, to reach out to someone you know who might be lonely and in despair. Give them something to be thankful for at this Thanksgiving holiday time of the year, hope in knowing they are loved and not forgotten. In doing so, I have made a new friend and I will cherish him as I do all of my friends.
