Key Thought

Jesus wanted the expert in the Old Testament who had asked "Who is my neighbor?" to realize that the key to God's truth was not just knowing it, but also putting it into practice. We see several great religious "heroes" have their religion interfere with their practice of the will of God. So to shock and jar the truth into this Jewish religious expert, he makes the hero of the story a despised Samaritan who does just as God would want his children to do. He was the one who saw the need and acted. And that is what God wants of us: not a hollow religion of words, arguments, and nuances, but a faith that is vibrantly and compassionately lived in the real world.

Today's Prayer

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O LORD, my Abba Father, please forgive me for letting my fascination with religious arguments take my heart off the truth you want me to live with character and compassion. Open my eyes to see the opportunities you give me each day to put my faith into redemptive action in my world. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

Then a teacher of the law stood up. He was trying to test Jesus. He said, "Teacher, what must I do to get life forever?" Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you understand from it?" The man answered, "'You must love the Lord your God. You must love him with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' Also, 'You must love other people the same as you love yourself.' " Jesus said to him, "Your answer is right. Do this and you will have life forever." But the man wanted to show that the way he was living was right. So he said to Jesus, "But who are these other people I must love?" To answer this question, Jesus said, "A man was going down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Some robbers surrounded him. They tore off his clothes and beat him. Then the robbers left the man lying there on the ground. He was almost dead. It happened that a Jewish priest was going down that road. When the priest saw the man, he did not stop to help him; he walked away. Next, a Levite came near. The Levite saw the hurt man, but he went around him. He would not stop to help him either; he just walked away. Then a Samaritan man traveled down that road. He came to the place where the hurt man was lying. The Samaritan saw the man. He felt very sorry for the hurt man. The Samaritan went to him and poured olive oil and wine on his wounds. Then he covered the man's wounds with cloth. The Samaritan had a donkey. He put the hurt man on his donkey, and he took him to an inn. At the inn, the Samaritan cared for him. The next day, the Samaritan brought out two silver coins and gave them to the man that worked at the inn. The Samaritan said, 'Take care of this hurt man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.'" Then Jesus said, "Which one of these three men (the priest, the Levite, or the Samaritan) do you think showed love to the man that was hurt by the robbers?" The teacher of the law answered, "The one that helped him."Jesus said to him, "Then you go and do the same {for other people}!"

— Luke 10:25-37 (ERV)

Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center. All rights reserved.