THE UPPER ROOM DEVOTIONAL 31ST DECEMBER 2025, WEDNESDAY MESSAGE
Helping Your Neighbors
Verl Lekwa (Iowa, USA)
Today’s Reading
1 John 3:16-24
If someone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but refuses to help — how can the love of God dwell in a person like that? – 1 John 3:17 (CEB)
I had just brought my wife home from a cancer operation when a snowstorm hit. I’m in my late 80s and have a bad back, so shoveling the driveway was pressing on my mind. What if my wife had an emergency? Then I heard a noise and saw a neighbor girl clearing our driveway. Shortly after she arrived, a man across the street finished his driveway and came over to help her. I thanked them both, grateful to have such caring neighbors.
We got more snow, so by the next day we were snowed in again. The same girl returned, and this time another neighbor and his wife also shoveled the large drifts. When I opened the door to thank them, the girl said, “Go back inside where it’s warm — we’ll finish this.”
I’m going to repay my neighbors in some way — perhaps I’ll mow their yards next summer, give them gift certificates, or take them baked goods. But I’ve already asked the Lord to be with them and provide them with helpers when they are in need.
Sometimes troubles bring unforeseen blessings from people we may have taken for granted. Let us thank God for those who help us!
Thought for the Day
Which of my neighbors can I help today?
Prayer Focus
My neighbors
Today’s Prayer
Dear Lord, open our eyes to see what the people around us need. Show us then how to act in love, remembering what you have done for us. Amen.
The Upper Room Devotional 31st December 2025 is a daily devotional magazine published in more than 30 languages and 100 countries around the world. The daily meditations are written by readers of the magazine and others interested in sharing their faith experiences through writing—both laity and clergy, published authors and new writers. Read More