Go and Do
Luke 10:25-37
Why is God showing you this lesson now?
The Christmas season brings a mixture of emotions to the believer. For example, there are positive feelings (hopefully!) when families gather together to celebrate Jesus’ birth. But there are sad emotions during the holidays when we miss loved ones who are no longer with us. We enjoy giving and receiving gifts. But we are saddened when we realize how many folks are in desperate need and are far less fortunate than we are.
Just “seeing” someone in need does not guarantee a compassionate response. In verses 31 and 32, notice that Luke is careful to point out that these two religious leaders both “saw” the wounded man, yet continued on. Sadly, all of us are capable of “seeing” someone in need without responding well.
The truth is, there are thousands of unsaved, yet “good,” people who do respond to human need when they see it. For example, we know that people who respond to natural disasters are not all Christians. So, what distinguishes a sincere “good deed” from a deed done by a child of God? Christians should respond with the compassion of Jesus!
How does this lesson connect to what God is doing in and around you?
Read Matthew 9:35-38. When Jesus saw the multitudes, He saw not just their “outward” needs but also their “inward” needs. He saw people physically scattered and weary, but He also saw people distressed and downcast. In other words, He remembered that the “multitudes” were made up of precious individuals with feelings and spiritual need.
Then what happened? That compassion motivated Jesus to “action,” which was to send out the Twelve that they might aid in the meeting of “spiritual” need for the sake of the kingdom.
Will you and I show the compassion of Jesus when we are meeting human need? Let us remember these things:
? We will not notice spiritual distress, until we have a heart like Jesus.
? We will not have a strong desire to relieve and remove suffering, until we have a heart like Jesus.
? We will only be a casual observer of the multitudes, until we have a heart like Jesus.
We will only identify ourselves with the pain and sin of people, when we have a heart like Jesus.
Do our actions and prayers demonstrate that we have a heart like Jesus?
Rick Astle– Lessons by Rick Astle, director of missions for Waccamaw Baptist Association. Astle is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and Southern Seminary. He is the author of two books and lives in Conway.