Verse: Luke 10:30-37
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Thoughts
I love the words of Jesus, "go and do likewise." We can carry those words with us in our hearts wherever we go.
When we are in school, we can go and do likewise. We can keep our eye out for people who are being mistreated, and we can be the ones who stop and help. We can be the ones who take care of them and show them unconditional love. We can sit next to the people who get ignored, stand up for the people who get made fun of, and reach out to the people who look like they are struggling.
When you walk by someone (or a friend) who is clearly having a hard day, how can you be their neighbor? How can you love them like Jesus does? Or when you see a friend being cyber-bullied, how can you care for them? Can you reach out to them? DM them and check on them? Encourage them and tell them you are praying for them?
Go and do likewise.
How about church and youth group? How can you do what the Samaritan did in this parable in that context? How can you love and care for the people who are hurting in that context?
How about at your sports team? Or drama team? How can you go and do likewise there?
This parable is so challenging because it is so applicable. We can always be on the lookout for people who are hurting. When we see a need, we can do something rather than walking away.
Let's all purpose in our hearts today to be the kind of people who go and do likewise.
Prayer
God I pray that you would give me eyes to see the hurting people in my life, and courage to go and do likewise!