Vol. 18 No. 31 | August 8, 2016
2 Corinthians 7 begins with these words: “Make room for us in your hearts.” Paul is writing to the Christians in Corinth as part of an ongoing relationship with them that involves and in part because of a request for them to give to a special effort to help another group of people. You can read more about that in chapter 8. But for the purposes of this post I want to focus on this one statement: “Make room for us in your hearts.”
Consider the people who are calling out for someone to “Make room for us in your hearts.”
“Make room for us in your hearts.” Cries the children down the street who needs supplies to begin a new school year.
“Make room for us in your hearts.” Cries the mother who shows up alone at church every Sunday with two small children.
“Make room for us in your hearts.” Cries the single guy who comes in, sits alone, and quietly leaves alone.
“Make room for us in your hearts.” Cries the elderly gentleman sitting alone at a table not far from you in the restaurant where you and your church friends go after you leave church services.
“Make room for us in your hearts.” Cries the line of people standing in the hot sun waiting for their chance to fill a shopping cart with food. (See OneGenAway.)
“Make room for us in your hearts.” Cries the man at the intersection holding a sign that reads: “No job. No home. Will work for food.”
“Make room for us in your hearts.” Cries child that moves from foster home to foster home.
“Make room for us in your hearts.” Cries the wife and mother as she feverishly bundles her children in her arms, packs what she can in the car and escapes to a shelter.
“Make room for us in your hearts.” Cries the middle aged man who goes through life alone, a casualty of being on the wrong side of the power systems and still strives to be a blessing to all.
“Make room for us in your hearts.” Cries the grand parents who have reared their own children and now provide a love-filled home for their grandchildren.
“Make room for us in your hearts.” Cries the family leaving the comforts of home to move to among the people of a distant and poverty-stricken country to remind them that they have made room for them in their hearts.
“Make room for us in your hearts.” Cries the immigrant coming to America hoping to find a safe place to pursue a life where her gifts and talents are acknowledged, respected and appreciated.
“Make room for us in your hearts.” Cries the lonely forgotten masses as they hope for someone somewhere to remember they exist, acknowledge they have value, and believe they worthy of our attention.
“Make room for us in your hearts.” Will we hear their cries?
Tom
A Norvell Note © Copyright 2016. Tom Norvell All Rights Reserved.