(Luke 10:33,34)
Killing our wounded. It has been said many times that the Christian army is
the only army that kills it's wounded. How true. In these verses from the
famous Good Samaritan story, it is interesting how the religious men who saw
the wounded traveler passed by on the other side. How much that is like
religious
people today. Rather than unconditionally helping someone who is down,
hurting, they sit back and talk about how the person got that way. They
talk
about the sins in their life that put them in that wounded state. They talk
with spiritual pride about how they could never do the things the wounded
person did. They almost take joy in seeing their brother or sister hurting.
Trust me, I know that the mail is going to start pouring in from this
devotional before it is even 5 minutes old. People will be outraged that I
had the audacity to say such things. The trouble is they are true!
How easy would it have been for Jesus to condemn the adulterous woman at the
well. Instead he talked to her and rather than condemn her, tried to show
her
another way. Each day in these devotionals, I sometimes point out words,
God's, not mine, to try and warn you from behavior that could lead to great
heartache and pain. God loved you so much He put these warnings in His Word
to try and save you from going through the tragedies so many are going
through every day, because they chose to ignore God and do it their way. But
what is our response to be to the one who has rebelled, the one who has
fallen, the one who is hurting? Condemn them? Tell them how stupid they
are? Ignore their pain and keep on going on with our own life?
I want you to think hard today about how you respond to people who have
fallen, those who are hurting. God still loves them. He didn't stop loving
Adam and Eve even though he kicked them out of the garden. God doesn't stop
loving us even though we have failed Him. I pray today that you will allow
God to use you as an instrument of healing in the life of someone who is
hurting today. Right now, this very second, you know someone who needs
love,
support, and kindness. You know someone who is "laying wounded by the side
of the road" that God has placed in your path to minister to. Will you
respond to that opportunity the way those religious men did on that dusty
Jericho Road, the way so many "religious" people respond today? Or will
you
be like the Good Samaritan and help that person recover. God is challenging
you through these very words to be like the Good Samaritan and help those
who
are fallen, hurting, and needing His love.
Let me challenge you one last time. Find someone today that is hurting and
needs help. Go there with the love of Christ and let them know that Jesus
loves them, cares for them, and will help them get back on their feet. I
love you, am praying for you. I am continually challenged what a few, for
the most part, uneducated men who followed a Jewish carpenter 2000 years ago
were able to do in regard to touching the world. With the great technology
we have today, how much can a few sold-out for Jesus people do if we are
serious. Let's make a difference in our own lives, and then in the lives
of
others.
