Devotional: Be a Neighbor

Luke 10:25-37 Jesus sends out seventy disciples to prepare the people for His visit. The seventy have much success, and Jesus commends them for their work. A lawyer wants to test Jesus and ask Him how he can inherit eternal life. Jesus refers the man to the commandments in the Law. One must love God and their neighbor. Jesus tells a parable to illustrate what it means to be a neighbor. A certain man is beaten, robbed, and left for dead. Three people see the man lying in the road. The first man is a priest. He passes by the man on the other side. He has religious reasons. The second man is a Levite. He passes by the man because he wants to obey the Law, and this is what he understands from the Law. The third man is a Samaritan. Samaritans are of mixed blood of Jews and Gentiles. Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans, the outcasts. This Samaritan uses his resources to bind up the man’s wounds. He gets the man to someone to take care of Him while he continues on his journey. The Samaritan returns to make sure that the man has been properly taken care of, and He pays the innkeeper for his services. Jesus is the Good Samaritan. He does not allow religious beliefs of the time to prevent Him from seeing that the wounded man gets the care that he needs. Jesus does not allow what some people believe about the Law to hinder him. In the parable Jesus tells us nothing about the status of the wounded man. Jesus passes by no one regardless of who the person is or the circumstances that they are in. Disciples of Jesus are innkeepers. Jesus places the wounded into our hands. We are to meet their needs. When Jesus returns He will give us our just rewards for the service that we render on His behalf. Prayer: Lord Jesus we thank you for your love and care. We want to be like you in that we meet the needs of others that you place in our pathway. Amen.