Undisputed — Over The Commonwealth - Thursday
Today’s Verse
Luke 10:37
“The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded. Jesus said, “Go and do the same.” (MSG)
I have a 4-year-old who certainly keeps me on my toes. He is extremely extraverted, ALL boy, and may or may not try and tackle his little sister on the regular. But during the chaos of raising 2 kiddos, he constantly teaches and reminds me to open my eyes to the people around me. A few weeks ago, we took a vacation, and as we were walking down the street, we saw a man sleeping on a bench. Our 4-year-old asked a few sweet questions and then never mentioned the encounter again. Until 3 weeks after we were talking in the car about our friend who was getting married and going to be living with her husband. He popped up and said he had a great idea, “Since our friend was moving in with her husband, we can go get the guy on the bench and let him live in her house.” He was SO excited and in his mind it didn’t matter that we didn’t know the man, that he was 2,000 miles apart, or that someone else might be moving in, instead, he saw an opportunity to stop and be kind to a stranger. I just love how kids make loving people so simple; they don’t worry about the differences between economic status, or what they look like, or if they speak different languages. Instead, they find something in common and love them well. What an example it was to me. I often hate to admit that I am the religious man they talk about in this chapter, who just passes people up because I am so focused on my schedule or the things I have to do. I often get calloused to the needs around me because it has become so familiar instead of embracing the interruption and seeing people, our neighbors, and their needs like Jesus does, a child of His. So, let's be kind to the people we interact with, let's focus on loving ALL people despite our differences, let's pray for opportunities to see needs and meet needs, and let's change our eyes to always be filled with compassion for the people around us.
REFLECTION
Read Luke 10:25-37 and reflect on who you identify with in the passage. Pray for eyes to see people the way Jesus sees them, and commit to one verse from this section to memory this week to challenge yourself to treat people kindly. Put it somewhere where it will remind you to love the person who might not be easy for you.