Yesterday was my turn to share during our weekly devotion. Days before yesterday I already struggled as I did not know what to share. My own devotion with God is still not consistent. Until Wednesday I still couldn't find any topic. On Monday, I received Our Daily Journey with Jesus. My sister's copy. Since she is not back yet, I opened it and flipped it through.
I had been praying for inspiration, praying for the right topic to share. Finally "Who Is My Neighbour?" caught my attention. I read through and thought it was quite OK and I supposed I will be able to share something out of it. The references that were given was from Luke 10:29- 38. It was about the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Jesus started to tell this parable when a legal expert asked Jesus "Who is my neighbour?" in verse 29. The story goes like this.
There was a Jewish man who was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho and he was attacked by bandits. The bandits stripped him of his clothes and money, beat him up and left him half dead by the roadside. Then a Jewish priest came along, he was going to the temple; but when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side of the road. (Both of them were Jews). Then a despised Samaritan came along and when he saw the Jewish man, he felt deep pity. The Samaritan soothed his wound with medicine and bandage them. He took the man to an inn and paid the innkeeper and told him to take care of him. He even told the innkeeper that if what he had paid was not enough, he will pay again when he's back again.
Then Jesus asked the legal expert after telling the story. He asked,"Which of these 3 would you say was a neighbour to the man who was attacked by bandits." Of course the legal expert's answer was the same as us, the one who showed him mercy.
Being a neighbour has nothing to do with how near we live to others, or how similar our religion or race. Being a neighbour depends simply on our humanity- and on need. Anyone you or I come in contact with who has a need is our neighbour. And to love our neighbour means to care enough to reach out and help in anyway we can.- extracted from the devotional material
The Jewish priest may have saved many souls for the Lord when he preached. However, he couldn't see the immediate need of the Jewish man. They were of the same race but yet, he did not bother to lend his hand to him. How sad it is when we are on the same boat and yet, we keep fighting for attention, keep arguing, keep blaming each other and can't see our weaknesses.
( This thought came when I was driving my sis to school on Wednesday morning).
I posted 2 questions before I ended my sharing.
1. Are we gonna wait for people to help us (like the legal expert who asked who is my neighbour)
or are we gonna equip ourselves to help others?
2. Are we gonna stay here blaming each other or are we gonna move on to a higher ground to
help even more people around us?
After I reached my office that day, I found out that 2 of my colleagues had an argument. my boss was telling me about that matter and my eyes were teary. I felt so disappointed and I was thinking when is that gonna end. I do not know how to express my feelings even now. I just felt upset maybe. Or I was touched knowing that God chose the right topic for me to share. maybe too...
Well, I hope that God has already ministered to them. I can only keep praying for them.
