“Then Jesus answered and
said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves,
who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half
dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him,
he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the
place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.” ― Luke 10:30-32
Typically, the story of the
Good Samaritan is focused on, well, the Good Samaritan. And, that is good. But today
I want to focus on the other two guys. This was a parable which means that for
the purpose of the parable there were only three people that walked down that
road. A priest, a Levite and the guy from Samaria. A Levite was from the tribe of Levi and they
helped the priests in the temple – so, today, we might say a pastor, a worship leader
and a guy from the wrong side of town.
You get the idea. Anyway –
the pastor and the worship leader were busy men. They had some place to go and a certain time
to get there. They saw the guy in the
ditch but had no compassion for him – he might be a Christian, but he didn’t
attend their church. So – no responsibility, right? Justified in not allowing
that person to disrupt their schedule, their priorities and perhaps their
resources.
Starting to get the
idea? We have to be careful that when
God presents an opportunity for us to be Jesus to someone, we don’t see it as inopportune.
So we just keep on walking – avoid eye
contact – that always seems to work.
Pretend like the person isn’t there.
That is another effective way of dodging the issue. I mean maybe that is
not your gifting – yeah that’s it. It is God’s fault that he did not equip you
for that moment. Uh, probably not!
We all struggle with the temptation
to walk on the other side of the road.
When we do – it is an indication that we have a love problem. Certainly
toward the person in need – but more directly – for God, Himself.
“We love because He first
loved us” – 1 John 4:19
If we are having a problem
loving others – in a practical way – not just having a good feeling towards other
people – it is because we have a weak relationship with the Father. Those guys
were in the worship business – and yet they missed the opportunity to show the
love of God – the object of their worship to another human being in need.
No matter what God asks me to
do for others, it will never match the sacrifice Jesus made for me. The same
goes for you my friend.
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For
His Glory Alone
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