“But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.” Luke 10: 33, 34
I was asked in mid September for a devotional for this month. I look at the calendar—October is already almost finished.
Time is an unforgiving taskmaster. We celebrate Christmas and no sooner get things cleaned up and put away then another Christmas season has arrived. We celebrate a child’s first birthday, turn around and that child is leaving for college or walking down the aisle for marriage or even holding a child of their own. We go to reunions and marvel at how everybody else has aged until we look in the bathroom mirror (Isn’t it amazing how motel bathroom mirrors make you look older than you are?). Time is unforgiving and unrelenting therefore, it is a precious commodity.
Now that I have a business of my own, this story of the ‘Good Samaritan’ really intrigues me. This Samaritan was headed somewhere –he had a schedule to keep and people to see. Maybe he had a secretary who told him that he had to be to Jerusalem by 8:00 or the whole deal would be lost. Maybe he had a boss who had told him that to be late one more time and he would be out on the street looking for a new job. Maybe he had a wife who told him if he were late one more time, there would be consequences to pay. Nobody knows where he was headed or why he was going all we do know is this: “…when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him…”. There was no hesitation, there were no feelings of self pity or remorse for an interrupted schedule—there was only compassion. I wish I could say that I was always ready to dump my schedule as easily as the Samaritan did that day. To be honest, there are days I pray with earnestness, ‘Lord, please don’t leave any wounded Jews in my path today—I simply don’t have time!’ These are the days when I have to remind myself of why Jesus gave us the lesson of the Good Samaritan—it was in response to the question, “And who is my neighbor?” May our Lord be our Lord even in our time schedules and may I learn what it means daily to “Love my neighbor as myself.”
World Missions Committee Member Lyle Mattson
