“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2, BSB).

In Hebrews 13:2, we’re told to show hospitality to strangers because maybe we’ll be hosting angels. This raises multiple questions. Should we show hospitality for the sake of the stranger?

When Paul is giving direction to Timothy about taking care of widows, one of the requirements is that she had shown hospitality to strangers, and in Romans 12:13, Paul also directs them to show hospitality to strangers.

It’s interesting to note that the word for hospitality means to entertain strangers. There is no separate word in any of these verses for strangers. It’s what it means to show hospitality, to take the “other” into your home.

To entertain a guest doesn’t mean to put on a show. It means to take care of their needs, feed them, give them shelter. But, of course, this leads to other questions like, “Why would an angel need to be shown hospitality? They don’t need a hot meal and a bed. Why would they even be there?”

We see a glimpse of this in the Old Testament story of Lot. The angels that went to save Lot didn’t just go and save Lot and his family. Abraham didn’t pray for Lot to be saved. He prayed that the city be spared if there were ten righteous people in it. He didn’t ask for Lot’s life.

God saves Lot for Abraham’s sake, though. God sends in angels and Lot is tested. Will he show himself righteous, will he show hospitality to strangers? He does. He and his daughters are saved.

What if we saw everything happening in our lives as being set up by God? What if we believed that those we came across, were put there by God? What if we believed God were testing to see where our heart was, to decide if we should receive a deliverance or a blessing?

This isn’t to turn every day into a high stakes event. It’s to cause us to acknowledge Him and to live in a way that always honors Him. If Jesus was standing next to you, wouldn’t you act in an honorable way?

We should believe that He is, and is even closer to us than that. So why shouldn’t we always act honorably, as if Jesus were watching and looking to approve our works?