LENDING TO THE LORD

I sat with my friend in a well-known coffee shop in a neighboring town of Venice, Italy.

As we enjoyed our coffee, a man entered & sat at an empty table beside us. He called the waiter & placed his order saying, “Two cups of coffee, one of them there on the wall.”

We heard this order with rather interest & observed that he was served with one cup of coffee but he paid for two.

When he left, the waiter put a piece of paper on the wall saying “A Cup of Coffee”.

While we were still there, two other men entered & ordered three cups of coffee, two on the table & one on the wall. They had two cups of coffee but paid for three & left.

This time also, the waiter did the same; he put a piece of paper on the wall saying, “A Cup of Coffee”.

It was something unique & perplexing for us. We finished our coffee, paid the bill & left.

After a few days, we had a chance to go to this coffee shop again. While we were enjoying our coffee, a man poorly dressed entered. As he seated himself, he looked at the wall & said, “One cup of coffee from the wall.”

The waiter served coffee to this man with the customary respect & dignity. The man had his coffee & left without paying.

We were amazed to watch all this, as the waiter took off a piece of paper from the wall & threw it in the trash bin.

Now it was no surprise for us – the matter was very clear. The great respect for the needy shown by the people of this town made our eyes well up in tears. (academictips.org)

Pro 19:17 GNB): “When you give to the poor, it is like lending to the LORD, and the LORD will pay you back.”