I Was Sick and You Visited Me
Joe Slater
	What would you do if Jesus lived in the flesh today and you knew He was sick? No doubt most of us would run over each other trying to get there to see what we could do for Him. No request would go unfulfilled; anything He needed we would supply. Yes, that’s what we would do – isn’t it?
	Jesus said that when He comes to judge the world, He will say to the righteous, “. . . I was sick, and you visited Me” (Matthew 25:36). When the righteous ask, “When did we see You sick . . . and come to You,” He will reply, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (vv. 39, 40).
	Our Lord takes peculiar notice of how we treat the members of His spiritual body, the church. Do you remember what He asked Saul of Tarsus: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4). Saul had been “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” (9:1); yet Jesus said he was persecuting Him! Whatever one does to the Lord’s body (church), for good or ill, he does to the Lord Himself. As seen in the previous paragraph, that includes visiting the sick.
	We have a lengthy prayer list (including sick and infirm) published every week in this bulletin. Several are announced each time we meet. Let us not allow this to become so routine that we forget about it! We have brothers and sisters and their family members sick at home, in hospitals, and in nursing homes. Are we so busy that we cannot be concerned?
	Jesus said we should treat others as we want to be treated (Matthew 7:12). How do you want to be treated if you become ill? None of us relishes the prospect of being hospitalized, living in a nursing home, or being home-bound; but, realistically, it could be the lot of any of us. How do we want family, friends, and fellow-Christians to treat us if that time should come? How do you want others to treat your family members who become ill? The answers to these questions should guide us in determining how we will deal with the sick and infirm here and now.
	Remember, what you do for Jesus’ brethren, you do for Him!
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Do What You Can
The smallest good deed is better by far
	Than the grandest good intention.
We’ll never get much accomplished in life
	If our good deeds are only mentioned.
One dollar that’s given is worth much more
	Than merely a promise of twenty,
For a dollar will buy a few little things,
	But a promise – that won’t buy any.
If we always intend to visit the sick
	But never put it into action,
What we plan to do won’t help matters much
	And certainly won’t bring satisfaction.
So do what you can, and give what you can
	To help your less fortunate neighbor,
And you can be sure that you will receive
	A great reward for your labor.
		--Wesley Yonts (adapted)
It Isn’t the Weight, It’s the Wait
	The story is told about a house-moving contractor in Minnesota who had a difficult job to accomplish. The only time this particular house could be moved would be during the hard winter months. He would have to move it over a frozen lake in order to get it to the owner’s preferred location.
	He had successfully moved the house about half a mile out onto the frozen lake when he decided to stop for a moment to decide on the best landing place. While he debated on what might be the best place to go ashore, the house sank into the lake. The ice at the place of the sinking was ten inches thick. It was more than strong enough to support the load while it was moving; but it couldn’t support the house’s dead weight when it wasn’t in motion.
	Is there a lesson here for us? You bet there is! As a Christian in the Lord’s church, we are to keep moving with our load. It just might be that if we stop to criticize, find fault, or just stop through indifference, our dead weight might not only be a burden that the church ought not to bear, but it just might cause us to lose our soul. There are too many Christians who have stopped and, in their idleness, have gone down into the icy waters of indifference.
	It is never the weight of the load that breaks us down as we pull together. The problem is the wait! I’m convinced that we already know the “best landing place” and we will keep on moving along!
	--Leon Bridges (Buchanan Dam, TX)