Jesus is a Kentucky fan

With the college basketball season less than a week away, and Kentucky having the #1 recruitment class in the country, as well as a #4 ranking in the AP poll, naturally I am excited. A few nights ago at church during band practice, a man walked in the back of the room wearing a UK hat. He asked if any of us was the youth minister, and assuming he was a member that just hadn't met me yet, I identified myself and stepped out to talk to him. He was wearing a pair of dirty painter's pants and began to explain his situation. I quickly realized that he was not a member, but a man in need of help. It's at this point I did what most of us do; find any and every excuse not to help. I listened to him tell me he had a wife and kids, how he didn't get payed till tomorrow, how his electricity had just been cut off an how he didn't have enough gas to make it to work tomorrow. And naturally I responded with the fact that it was late, that there was nothing I could do for him tonight, and that our church had special channels in which we distributed help to families like his. His face reflected a heart that had been broken. He couldn't go home a failure, and suddenly my attention was drawn back to his hat. It is rare to see a UK fan in the greater richmond area, and anyone around the church or in my circle of friends knows that I am a die-hard Kentucky fan. And just 5 minutes earlier, I jokingly told a man I knew nothing about that I would do anything for a fellow UK fan.

Before I knew anything about him...

"Then the righteous will answer Him, '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 take You in, or without clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?' And the King will answer them, 'I assure you: whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for me.'"

It took a man in a UK hat to remind me of that. But God put that man in my life for a reason. And so I gave him some money from my pocket, and some food out of our food closet, prayed with him and got back to practice. And hopefully the next time I come into contact with someone I consider "the least of these," I will remember my experience with that man. Praise Jesus. Go Big Blue.