Visiting in Prison

The Holy Spirit amazes me sometimes. Have you ever had a Bible verse that you haven't read in a long time to just come into your mind for no reason and it's like it's telling you to do something? Well, I guess I shouldn't say for no reason, because when the Holy Spirit speaks to our spirit, it is usually through the Word of God and it is for a reason. Here is what happened....last night I was in my kitchen cooking supper and for some reason I started thinking about someone I know who is in prison right now. And then almost as quickly as the thought of him came to my mind, a verse popped into my mind. And I wasn't even sure if it was really a verse or if I had it mixed up with something else. Here is what it says: 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' I had to go back and check the Bible to see if it really did say something about visiting those in prison.

I've always remembered the feeding, clothing and sick part of these verses, but I have never even thought about the visiting in prison part. We, as a society, usually reject the people who have been convicted of crimes and especially the type of crime this person committed. We think, put that person in prison and give them what they deserve. And then we forget about them. At least, I do. But for some reason, this verse about visiting them in prison was written in bold letters across my brain just after I thought about my relative who is in prison. I want to visit him now. He was a respected man with a good job and a family. But he made some mistakes and now he's suffering the consequences. Jesus doesn't tell us to reject these people, he says that when we visit them then we are doing it unto Him. I have never set foot inside a prison, but now I'm thinking that I need to do this.

Read Matthew 25:31-46