Here is something to ponder. Which of these are you? I love the story in Luke 10 about Jesus and the good Samaritan. Let me paraphrase it for you for 2025.
The story starts with a lawyer asking, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ Jesus, being Jesus, in all of His wisdom, replied, “What does the scripture say?” The answer, of course, is: You must 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 your neighbor as yourself. The lawyer asks, but who is my neighbor?
Jesus continues with this parable: A certain man was going on a road trip, and he got beat up, robbed, and left half dead in the street. Now, by coincidence, a local pastor was going down along that street to church, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Next, a deacon, likewise, came down the street on his way to church and saw him and passed by on the other side of the street. Next, Brother John and his wife, Sister Mary, came down the street on their way to church, saw the guy lying there, and kept rolling.
Next came an unbeliever (a foreigner) who provided first aid and shelter to the wounded man without thought. Jesus asks, Which now of these, do you think, was neighborly to the wounded man? And he said, “He that showed mercy on him.” Then said Jesus to him, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37).
At this point in the story, you should be asking yourself, which of these am I? Will you look at the wounded and think, they are not like me; they do not look like me or talk like me; why are they in this neighborhood anyway? Or telling yourself that you do not have time to stop or that you will be late for church.
Ask yourself, Did Jesus ponder to Himself any of these questions when He went to the cross to save you? Did your immigration status, the color of your skin, your tax bracket, or your living situation determine your worth? There was no ‘but’, ‘if‘, or ‘maybe‘ involved in His actions towards you.
God chose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and [as believers to be] heirs of the kingdom, which He promised to those who love Him. But you [in contrast] have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress and exploit you? (James 2: 5-6)
Ponder this as you sit at home, in church, or at work. Which of these are you?
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