³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? ³⁹ Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:35-40

I have to admit that I feel uncomfortable when walking past someone with their arms outstretched asking or begging. Maybe it’s just me. This scene has become somewhat sanitized with the introduction some years ago of the ‘Big Issue’ magazine which serves the same need but is well, controlled. So whilst reading through the book of Matthew and coming across this familiar text, I wondered as one who commutes each day by car to work how I could resonate with this text. Then I came across Narayanan Krishnan.

He was a professionally trained chef working at a 5-star hotel in Tamil who gave up his job to feed the homeless, mentally ill and destitute. Every day, he wakes up at 4 am, cooks a simple hot meal and then, along with his team, loads it in a van and travels about 200 km feeding the homeless in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Krishnan feeds, often with his hands, almost 400 destitute people every day. And for those who need it, he provides a free haircut too. He was selected as one of the Top 10 in “CNN heroes 2010″ list.

He asks and then answers this question,

“What is the ultimate purpose of life?”

‘- It’s to give. Start giving. See the joy of giving.’ Narayanan Krishnan

Now what we might have to give may not be listed in the key text of Matthew 25:35-40 but as an anonymous writer once said, 

‘If you don’t live for something, you’ll die for nothing.’

Live for Jesus and experience real joy today.