Daily Devotional for Sunday, February 16

Do Good unto All Men

"As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith;' Galatians 6:10.

Doing good and being generous can sometimes be costly. I remember well a story my grandfather once told about a situation in which he had to make a difficult decision. In the old days, people allowed their hogs to roam free, range style, in the woods near their homes and community. The method by which each family identified their hogs consisted of aseries of notches cut into the ears of the pigs when they were born. Each family had adistinctive pattern, and ahog could be identified instantly by looking at the pattern in the ears.

One day my grandfather was hunting in the woods near his home on Walker's Creek, andhe came upon the scene of acrime. A family, husband and wife with three or four children, were busily butchering ahog there in the forest. They did not see my granddad, but he observed the family from a distance. My grandfather recognized that the hog belonged to him. They were stealing and butchering his hog. My grandfather had a decision to make.

Instead of rushing onto the scene and taking what was rightfully his, my grandfather just quietly observed this family. I still remember how he described what happened next: ''As I watched them working on the hog, I noticed how poor they seemed to be. The children were in rags, dirty, and thin. The parents also bore the evidence of extreme poverty. I decided that these people were not bad people; they were hungry people. They were stealing so they could eat. They never knew I was there, for I allowed them to finish their job undisturbed. I never regretted my decision to give my hog to that hungry family. I believe it is what God wanted me to do."

FINAL THOUGHT

Paul encouraged us to do good to all men, even to those who may not deserve it.

John Nations