“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”” Luke 6:38…………
I may be wrong, but I’m guessing the number 246 doesn’t mean anything to you, or much anyway. But 246 was a very important number to a couple from China visiting America who were staying in the hotel where the Lord has sent me as the first stop out on the road for ministry. The hotel where time and again busloads of people from China have stayed as they tour the Washington, DC, area. Where time and again, I have found people from China like this couple in somewhat of a panic going up and down the hallways trying to find their rooms because the set-up of the hotel is a bit complicated and because they speak a different language with a totally different alphabet. The number 246 probably doesn’t mean much to most of us, but to that couple it meant just about everything because they were entirely lost in a foreign land, nobody was around, and they had no idea how to even get to the front lobby. 246 may mean nothing to us, but to them it was critical they receive help in locating it.
Not so very long ago I would have been too consumed with myself, with my own life, to take the time to even notice things like this, let alone to proactively reach out to someone in need without their even needing to ask. But that’s exactly what I did. Why? Because of the Lord Jesus Christ, because of His love in me, because of His compassion, mercy, kindness, etc. in me. Because His followers are commanded to love Him and to love others. Because helping others is serving Christ, because we are called to serve in His name for God’s glory, because God has given me His love for His Creation, and because the Lord has given me a heart and the eyes and ears to see the 246’s in the world. The 246’s? Yes.
To me I think of 246 now as a symbol of people’s needs, particularly of people’s needs they may never even tell others about. But needs that with the Lord’s love we can see – and do something about. Should Christ’s followers have to be asked to help others in His name, or should we not have our hearts, eyes, and ears ever open to opportunities to deny ourselves, to set aside our own plans and agendas, and comforts and pleasures, and without even having to be asked, to notice the needs of others and to simply – and humbly, with love – take whatever steps the Spirit of God leads us to take to show the love of Christ to a world in desperate, desperate need of Him?
I hope this message inspires you to start seeing the 246’s in this world. The needs of others. And to do something about it. Without even needing to be asked. Oh, how thankful this couple was when I led them to their room. They used hand motions and big smiles and such from what I recall to show their thankfulness. I knew they couldn’t understand English, so I simply did my best to make sure that they understood the real reason they were now standing in front of Room 246 was not me. I pointed upward to heaven where the Lord sits and will reign forevermore. And loudly, boldly, whether they understood the word or not, I said, “JESUS”!
Yes, for Christ’s sake! Let us go out into this world and proclaim the Gospel message and show this world Christ’s most amazing love! For God’s glory! Amen!