Who Is My Neighbor?

Luke 10:27-29 -   “It says,” he replied, “that you must 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 you must love your neighbor just as much as you love yourself.”  “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you shall live!”  The man wanted to justify his lack of love for some kinds of people,^[d] so he asked, “Which neighbors?”

 

A Man had asked Jesus how to get to Heaven….and he had replied with His own question. He asked the man what the laws of Moses had recorded God telling them already. It was a simple enough answer…but one of the hardest things to do.  Love God with every part of your being… and love others the same as yourself.

 

The man just couldn’t accept that Jesus meant all people…so he asked one more question…. Which one? Jesus replied with one the most familiar stories in the Bible….where a hated Samarian is given the hero role to prove the point that the neighbor we are supposed to love is the one that crosses our path…whether it be man… woman….black skin…yellow skin….president….homeless…rich…poor…crook….honest…obnoxious or sweet.  The simple truth that Jesus wanted all of us to grasp is that we are to love everyone the same way we love Him.

 

I am doing better lately…but I will admit that I still am more like the man who wanted Jesus to send me to the neighbors I liked instead of the neighbors that were difficult to deal with. It is easier to help those that appreciate and praise us for our help. But Jesus was saying that the heart that is transformed by His love doesn’t care what it gets in return…it does its good because the father instructed him too…because we love God…our heart is able to love all people the way he does.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I am to love everyone that You love.  Forgive me for the times that I made excuses for helping someone because I was in a hurry…or too busy….or thought they didn’t deserve it… or I was afraid …or just plain selfish. Help me to be more like the good Samaritan…and Jesus…ready to help anyone that comes to me for help….able to use the words that you hide in my heart every night and morning to comfort…or heal…or even save another soul to the Kingdom of God. Amen.