⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.’ ”(Matthew 25:40)

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The window view was alive with people, coming and going, carrying bundles, flowers, gifts. She always placed her wheelchair close to the pane, so she could see the life passing by outside. The elderly woman kept a careful watch for someone she might know, someone who might be coming to visit her.

The people passing by outside the glass weren’t really strangers though, since she saw some of them regularly on their visits to friends or family. She almost knew them. Yet, they did not know her. Not one of them ever looked at her window. No one waved at her as she watched them. No one noticed as she sat there day after day, waiting. . .

The little red-haired boy was not supposed to toss the ball near the building. But being a boy, holding a ball, how could he not. The ball rolled under the window ledge where the old woman was watching. The boy ran after it, his mom calling for him to hurry. Searching under the bushes, he found the ball and was preparing to toss it again–when he looked up and saw the old woman staring at him through the window pane. She watched him intently, waiting for what she had wanted all along—acknowledgement that she was part of the life she saw passing daily by her window.

And it came from a little freckle-faced, red-haired boy with a ball. He met her gaze and smiled–not a little boyish grin, but a big, broad smile—focused directly at her. She caught the smile in her eyes, holding it there, smiling back, as he ran toward his mother who reached for his open hand- which was not immediately given. Instead, turning back to the woman in the window, who was still watching him, he waved. And she lifted a waiting hand to wave back.

Others in the walkway had observed the little boy chasing after the ball. Following the scene being played out, they now saw the old woman in the window. They could not pass by again without remembering that she was there, watching and waiting. Would they smile? Would they wave? Or would they continue to pass on by as they had always done before?

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³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ ”

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ ”(Matthew 25:34-40)

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Hear the silence that speaks behind windows or open doors. See the waiting and watching of those in need.  Respond with action, for whatever we do for one of these, we do for Christ.

(Sharon G. Tate 11/27/16 blog) teacherforjesus.com Meditations on God’s Word