Reading in Luke chapter 10
"On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" - Luke 10:25-29 (NIV)
Love God, love people, do something about it.
A few years back I was out for a nice ride. It was a beautiful day, early in the morning, not much traffic; the perfect day for a ride.
Unfortunately a deer thought it was also a great day for a run across town.
I locked my breaks, missed the deer and laid my bike down in the middle of the street. I watched, bewildered, as the deer jumped through the glass door of a local business.
The car behind me stopped and a woman got out of her car with her husband. Anyone who has gone down on their bike can know the thoughts going through my head as my knee began to throb... "Oh no... look at my bike!"
The woman sat with me, talking, asking if I was OK while her husband moved my bike from the middle of the road. Then they both waited with me while the ambulance came to check me out. That wasn't enough for them, they drove me home.
That could not have been in their plans for the day, I know it wasn't in mine!
Let's face it, tithing and going to church is easy. Having your day interrupted to help a total stranger, that can get messy.
I wonder, are we so caught up in our lives that we are not willing to help a stranger or even a friend? Do we schedule our times for service and consider ourselves "off the clock" and on our own time for the rest of the week?
Could it be, that subtly we have become slaves to our routine, not wanting it to be interrupted, and we don't even see the chance to help?
Back to Luke 10.
"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:36-37 (NIV)
Love God, love people, do something about it.
-MB
