Times are tough. People all around us are hurting and it appears that no part of our society is immune to the issues we are all facing. Despair is growing…Despondency is spreading like the plague…Dejection is setting like concrete in the lives of those displaced by the current woes

 

What can we do?

Live our lives out-loud for the cause of Christ

Reach out to those who are hurting

Even if they do not look like you or come from the same side of the tracks

Scripture

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37 ESV

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall 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.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii [3] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Footnotes

[3] 10:35 A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer

 

Life Lessons

Live like there is no tomorrow

Love like no one is looking

Serve everyone as if they were royalty…Make them feel special

Give until it hurts…Jesus did

The pains of today can give birth to the next generation’s access to God through living our lives out-loud for Christ

The world expects us to be the voice of condemnation…Throw them a curve give them Jesus. Not the Jesus they expect…The kind of Jesus that He gave to the world when He walked it.

            He identified with their plight

            He reached out to those who were not like Him

            He wept for those He loved

            He cared deeply for those around Him even though one would eventually betray Him

            He wanted people to experience God in a tangible way

            What are we doing that mimics Jesus example?

            It’s not What Would Jesus Do but What Did Jesus Do?