Heaping Coals on Enemies

<p>Dan endured daily beatings from the same prison guard. He felt compelled by Jesus to love this man, so one morning, before the beating was about to begin, Dan said, &ldquo;Sir, if I&rsquo;m going to see you every day for the rest of my life, let&rsquo;s become friends.&rdquo; The guard said, &ldquo;No sir. We can never be friends.&rdquo; Dan insisted and reached out his hand.</p> <p>The guard froze. He began to shake, then grabbed Dan&rsquo;s hand and wouldn&rsquo;t let go. Tears streamed down his face. He said, &ldquo;Dan. My name is Rosoc. I would love to be your friend.&rdquo; The guard didn&rsquo;t beat Dan that day, or ever again.</p> <p>&nbsp;Scripture tells us, &ldquo;If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you&rdquo; (Proverbs 25:21&ndash;22). This doesn&rsquo;t mean we&rsquo;re to kill our enemies with kindness. The &ldquo;coals&rdquo; imagery may reflect an Egyptian ritual in which a guilty person showed his repentance by carrying a bowl of hot coals on his head. Similarly, our kindness may cause our enemies to become red in the face from embarrassment, which may lead them to repentance.</p> <p>Who is your enemy? Who do you dislike? Dan discovered the kindness of Christ was strong enough to change any heart&mdash;his enemy&rsquo;s and his own. We can too.</p>