It’s never too soon to be kind.

别再犹豫，立即行善吧！

“Why have I found such favor [grace] in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” Ruth 2:10

“我既是外邦人，怎么蒙你的恩，这样顾恤我呢？”-路得记2章10节

Some say that the American writer Anne Herbert scribbled the phrase “Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty” on a placemat at a restaurant in 1982. The sentiment has since been popularized through film and literature and has become a part of our vocabulary.

有人说，美国作家爱恩·贺伯（Anne Herbert）曾于1982年在某家餐厅的餐垫上写下：“随心随手行善、流露美好行为。”自此，影片及文学作品便开始宣传这样的情操，使“随手行善”成为我们常用的词汇。

The question is “Why?” Why should we show kindness? For those who follow Jesus, the answer is clear: To show the tender mercy and kindness of God.

问题是，我们为什么要行善，以恩慈待人呢？对于跟随耶稣的人而言，这个答案非常清楚，因为我们要展现上帝温柔的怜悯与恩慈。

There’s an Old Testament example of that principle in the story of Ruth, the emigrant from Moab. She was a foreigner, living in a strange land whose language and culture she did not understand. Furthermore, she was desperately poor, utterly dependent on the charity of a people who took little notice of her.

在旧约路得记中，就有这样的例子。来自摩押的路得是个外邦人。她不仅身处在文化和语言完全陌生的环境，而且她还贫穷至极，只能依赖忽视她的以色列人的施舍。

There was one Israelite, however, who showed Ruth grace and spoke to her heart (Ruth 2:13). He allowed her to glean in his fields, but more than simple charity, he showed her by his compassion the tender mercy of God, the One under whose wings she could take refuge. She became Boaz’s bride, part of the family of God, and one in a line of ancestors that led to Jesus, who brought salvation to the world (see Matt. 1:1–16).

然而，以色列人波阿斯却恩待路得，以亲切的话语安慰她（路得记2章13节）。波阿斯让路得到他的田里拾取麦穗，除了这个简单的善行外，波阿斯对她的怜悯也展现了上帝的怜恤与慈爱，所以她也可以藏身在上帝的翅膀荫下。后来路得嫁给波阿斯为妻，成为上帝家中的一分子，还成为救主耶稣基督的先祖（参阅马太福音1章1-16节）。

We never know what one act of kindness, done in Jesus’s name, will do.

奉耶稣之名所做的善行能成就何等大的事，我们永远都无法预料。

Lord, what do You want me to do for another today? Lead me. And may that person see a glimmer of You.

主啊，在这新的一天中，祢要我为别人做些什么呢？求祢引导我，好让对方能瞥见祢的美好。

⁸ So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. ⁹ Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

¹⁰ At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”

¹¹ Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. ¹² May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

¹³ “May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.”

整理：于姊妹