This is Josiah.  He is a student here in our middle school ministry.  He decided that instead of having people buy him gifts, that they should use that money to buy hats/glove/scarfs to hand out to the homeless.  So on Christmas morning, after everyone had opened their gifts, Josiah and his family bundled up and drove into the inner city in Indianapolis.

When his dad told me what he was planning to do, my heart broke at my own selfishness and my heart jumped for joy as my mind went to Luke 4 and what Jesus said-

 ¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
   because he has anointed me
   to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
   and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
   ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

What would happen if we all did this?  I think it's a great question to ask coming into 2011.  What can we do to proclaim 2011 as the year of the Lord's favor?

Blessings