Be That Person Your Neighbor Needs

Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Luke 10:36, ” So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? “

Background

I realized last night that I had left my key to the office sitting on my desk. That meant that I was going to have to wait this morning in my car at work until someone arrived to open the door. Well, as it turned out, I pulled into the parking lot just after another lady arrived, and so I didn’t have to wait at all. In fact, I hustled out of the car to make sure that she didn’t go inside before I could get to the door. As we met there, I could see that her morning was going a little differently than mine. Her drink had spilled in the car and gotten all over her pants. Now, she wasn’t terribly upset at this unfortunately damp beginning, but she did express a hope that the spill was not an indicator as to how the day was going to go. And so, there we were, two people arriving at the same place, but coming with different expectations and experiences. My good Samaritan was wrestling with frustration while helping to get my day started off smoothly.

Application

And that’s real life, isn’t it? I’ve got to think that the Samaritan in the parable, the good neighbor who had compassion and went out of his way to help save a man’s life, didn’t go along the entire way whistling a contemporary praise song and skipping beside his animal. He endured inconveniences, thought about what it was costing him in dollars and time, and never forgot the fact that this man was of the despised race of Jews. But those points aren’t in the story, if they occurred at all. And I think that they aren’t mentioned because from God’s perspective, they are irrelevant. He wants us to understand that we don’t get to pick and choose our neighbors. Our minds and hearts have got to think much bigger than being neighborly to our neighbors in our neighborhood. When your morning is going messy, there’s likely a neighbor nearby. When you’re hurrying across a hot parking lot, there’s probably one there, too. So don’t let your life keep you from living as a neighbor. Go and be one. Go and do the neighborly thing. Be inconvenienced, get side-tracked. Make the choice before it’s time to choose.

Charge

As we seek Him today, see how much of yourself you can give away. Ask God for the opportunities, and the compassion, to be just the person that someone else is needing.