Where do you go to find hospitality? A great deal of our conversation about Biblical Hospitality has focused on the hospitality we can share with others. This is a natural focus.
The Biblical word though is as equally dedicated to an understanding of the hospitality we are given. God created the world and welcomed us into it. God gave us dominion over it. What could be a greater act of hospitality than giving a guest the mortgage to the house? God invited us into a special holy relationship. Eventually, God came to us in human form and in the ultimate act of sacrificial love, died so we might have life and life eternal. God from the beginning has been working to prepare a place for us. How radical is that?!
To be able to give hospitality you first have to receive it. To understand how to give it you have to know what it feels like to have it offered to you. That is true both from God and other believers. In a world, where we often have to fight to create our space, we need to also find holy spaces where we know we will be welcomed, accepted and loved. That is one of the reasons we need the church. It is why we need Christian friends who love us because Christ has loved us first.
As we focus on how to extend radical hospitality, give thanks to God for the places and people how give it to us. Take time to find peace and rest in those special places. Those are holy moments to treasure and nurture our soul.
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