Last Christmas Eve, while my wife and I were driving home after grocery shopping, I saw a homeless veteran holding a sign and selling mistletoe.

I felt pity and we made a bag of instant oatmeal, breakfast bars, and bottled water. We gave him the bag along with $40.

He couldn’t eat any of the food because he was diabetic, but he said he would pass it along to other homeless people. He told us he needed a place to stay until his VA benefits could sort out housing. I gave him all the large bills I had. With it, he said he was able to get shelter for several days. He gave us mistletoe, a calendar, and thanked us profusely as we left.

As we came back home, we realized that were it not for grace, we could be homeless, reliant on the kindness of strangers.

That reminded me of what Jesus did for us. While we were poor, blind, naked, and hungry, Jesus came and took our place. In essence, He got out of His warm comfortable car, put His warm jacket around us, and gave us the keys to His car and home. He chose to live our life and die the death that we deserve.