Whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.
Matthew 10:42
Kay DeKalb Smith passed a chocolate shop at the airport. She’d been hungering for chocolate all week, but she told herself she didn’t need the calories. She lined up at the pretzel shop instead. The young man ahead of her asked for a sample, but the girl at the counter refused. Kay noticed a cup of hot water in his hand and remembered times she herself had drank hot water from lack of funds and taken advantage of free samples. She ordered two bags of pretzel bites and went looking for the fellow. She found him working behind a counter and handed the pretzels to him, saying, “Remember, if it matters to you, it matters to God.”
Back at the gate, she sensed someone approaching her. It was the young man. He said, “That was such a nice thing you did. I had to bring you this to thank you.” He handed her a bag from his shop and was gone. It contained a small box of chocolates. The Holy Spirit whispered in her heart: “If it matters to you, it matters to Me.”
Small acts of kindness matter to God, even a bag of pretzels or a cup of cold—or hot—water.
They do well and wisely who give the “cup of cold water” whenever they have opportunity…. This is to have the mind of Christ.
J. C. Ryle, in Expository Thoughts on the Gospels
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