In Luke 10 a lawyer is asking Jesus some questions and comes to that famous question, “who is my neighbor.” From this question Jesus tells the story of the good Samaritan. Briefly: A traveler is robbed and left for dead. One person who is supposed to be “good” passes by and does nothing. A second person who is supposed to be “better” than the first guy passes by and does nothing. And finally, a third person who is supposed to be “bad” (the Samaritan) passes by and does what is right.
Luke 10:33-35, “33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
We usually look at this story as Jesus showing us that everyone is our neighbor. And that’s true, but I also want you to see that while the Samaritan allowed his day to be interrupted it didn’t throw off his journey. After he got the injured traveler to safety the Samaritan continued his journey. He had places to be.
There will be times in your life that will be interrupted and need to you to make a choice. In those times I pray you make the right decision even if it isn’t necessarily convenient. Sometimes we will take on a huge burden. For example, the Samaritan could have stayed with the traveler until they were fully nursed back to health. Then there will be times that you just need to help someone get one step closer to safety, and let someone else take over.
Who is your neighbor? How can you help them, even if it’s just one step forward?