The Lord says: “whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto Me” (Matthew 25:40). Have you ever thought of the reward you receive when you do a good turn for someone in need? It’s called “the joy of giving.” Following is an inspirational story by Steve Lipman about the special joy he experienced from giving:

“It is not wise to take out your wallet when approached by a beggar because you never know if the beggar might also be a robber. But, you develop a sixth sense about these things, and I had no misgivings about the young black woman, shy and rail-thin with matted hair, who approached me a few years ago in a nearby subway station while I was waiting for the train.

“Can you give me some money for a meal?” she asked, timidly. I took a few dollars from my wallet, and gave them to her. Then I noticed her feet. She was wearing threadbare sneakers and had no socks on. I asked her why? She had no money for socks either, she explained, as she turned to enter the train.

I had no more money to offer, but the vision of this homeless, sockless woman accompanied me home. I rummaged through my dresser drawers for a few pairs of nearly new, thick socks and put them in plastic bag, eager to give them to the homeless woman.

I waited for her during the next several days in the same place, at the same time, but she never showed up. Unwilling to give up and unable to linger on the platform, I brought my little package up a flight of stairs to the woman who worked in the token booth. We had never spoken before, but we did have a nodding relationship.

I asked her to open the booth’s side door, and I handed her the bag with an assignment: “Please be on the lookout for a thin, black homeless woman who comes to the station in mid-afternoon and has no socks.” She accepted the bag and my assignment, graciously.

My schedule kept me from that subway station for the next several weeks. When I finally went by the booth again, the token-lady excitedly waved me over.

No, the young homeless woman did not show up. But, the lady in the booth told me that the day after I left the bag there two homeless men knocked on the booth’s door and said their meager socks were wet, and their feet were cold. “Do you have any dry socks?” they implored her. Filled with joy, the lady gave the men my package. “A gift from God,” she said, smilingly. She knew I intended my gift for the homeless woman, but she felt sure God had other plans.

The lady in the booth had never seen these men before, she said. She had worked at that station for several years, and no one had ever asked her for dry socks.

“The Lord,” she added, “sure works in mysterious ways.”

The joy of giving enveloped both of us with a mutual sense of gratitude. We became good friends from that day forth, and we felt blessed by the three needy people we were privileged to help.”