Hit The Brakes!

In this reading, we see Jesus speak about a man who was basically left for dead in a ditch. Several people passed him up without stopping to check on him. The very first person that went by him was a preacher, a man of God. He never batted an eye at the man. The one that you would expect to stop never stopped.

In our lives, we should be hitting the brakes more often. The enemy wants us to be too busy and too concerned about the things of this world. We go out of our way to avoid helping another. We, Christians, should be part of the solution. There will always be the poor, needy, or someone that needs help. Every one of us has a responsibility but some of us have a higher responsibility.

One can’t depend on the preacher to help. One must make sacrifices to help another person in need. In this story, we have already seen the preacher just walk by without helping, but let’s look at the church members. The next person we see is the example of a church member. He not only walked by, he stopped, judged, and never helped.

The next person was an enemy of the man in the ditch. He stopped, got in the ditch, and helped the man out and on his way.

This message is not about the enemy that helped, but about the first two, the Christian. God expects His children to help in opportunities that we come upon. When we see someone hurting we should be the first ones to stop and help. God never told us that it was optional to love another person. He told us to love others as we love ourselves. Real love is sacrifice and a willingness to let go of ourselves.

Why do we make up the rules for helping another? We refuse to talk to a drunk until they sober up. We refuse to go visit a lost person because they may cuss us. We know all along we must stop and offer Jesus as help yet we refuse to stop and help. The expectation was that the preacher would have stopped yet we also see the church member not help. It took an enemy of the man to help him out. We are all busy and we all are expected to not only love God but to love our neighbors. Nothing should get in our way to love another. If you don’t help your neighbor and say you love God then you’re a liar.