Have you ever questioned...Who is my neighbour? The person living next door to me? The people living on my block? The ones who are nice to me? The ones who agree with my thinking? The people living in my town? The people living in my province? The people living in my country? My countries allies? I think that we over analyse this question.
Who is my neighbour? I like what Jesus has to say about this. I believe this lesson is as applicable today as it was 2000 years ago.
One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”
The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’”
“Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”
The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”
Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was travelling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
“By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
“Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I'm here.’
“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbour to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.” Luke 10:25-37 New Living Translation (NLT)
The next time you get to help someone, do it. The Samaritan could have walked on past, waited for someone else to help - maybe someone of the same faith, rationalized that it would be too expensive to care for this wounded man, worried that the man had alternative motives for getting beat up, or just thought that it was too dangerous...The Samaritan could have done all these things and had justification. But he didn't. He showed mercy.
And Jesus said - "Now go and do the same."
Who is my neighbour? I think Jesus answered that question very clearly. :)
Showing posts with label neighbour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neighbour. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Clean - up from the snow.
Not as much snow as expected -but there was still a 3 foot high drift the entire length of my driveway. Heard some thunder this morning when it was snowing, that is always cool. Last time I remember thunder snow was December 27, 2007. Then it all melted - fast.
I wonder what my neighbour is going to think when he and his wife get back from the south? I put several stakes with orange on them to stop snow being blown from the parking lot onto my trees and yard - salt, sand are not very good for blue spruce tree. The branches get broken and when the snow leaves they have huge spaces missing out of them. There is a vacant lot right beside the parking lot and all the operator has to do is make a couple extra passes....anyways, back to my neighbour....He has a small utility trailer in his back yard, or at least he use to have one....between the tractor from the one lot and the blower from the other lot...it is totally buried, so are several other of his items. we'll see in the spring if the axle is still straight, probably not.
I went over to dad's to blow out his driveway and so I had to load my snow blower in the back of the truck. I thought I'd back up to the snow bank, drop the tailgate and drive it into the back...it didn't work. But I want to thank a stranger for helping me. He stopped his car and helped me lift it into the back of the truck. Still lots of nice people around!
The plow just went past...11:30am, so I guess it's time to clean the end of my drive again. Stay safe everyone!
I wonder what my neighbour is going to think when he and his wife get back from the south? I put several stakes with orange on them to stop snow being blown from the parking lot onto my trees and yard - salt, sand are not very good for blue spruce tree. The branches get broken and when the snow leaves they have huge spaces missing out of them. There is a vacant lot right beside the parking lot and all the operator has to do is make a couple extra passes....anyways, back to my neighbour....He has a small utility trailer in his back yard, or at least he use to have one....between the tractor from the one lot and the blower from the other lot...it is totally buried, so are several other of his items. we'll see in the spring if the axle is still straight, probably not.
I went over to dad's to blow out his driveway and so I had to load my snow blower in the back of the truck. I thought I'd back up to the snow bank, drop the tailgate and drive it into the back...it didn't work. But I want to thank a stranger for helping me. He stopped his car and helped me lift it into the back of the truck. Still lots of nice people around!
The plow just went past...11:30am, so I guess it's time to clean the end of my drive again. Stay safe everyone!
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