Read Luke 10:35 NIV
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.’
Today’s verses are part of a beautiful story about love and sacrifice that Jesus told and is often referred to as “The Good Samaritan.” In Jesus’s illustration we see two men, a priest and a Levite, pass by a man beaten and left for dead along the road. Both would have been considered men of great faith by Jesus’s listeners, but both passed by without lifting a finger to help. By crossing over to the other side of the road, Jesus indicated that they even went out of their way to avoid the injured man altogether! In contrast, a Samaritan man went out of his way to help in whatever means he could, and with the innkeeper he already covered the bill, which equated to about 2 days worth of wages. He even agreed to pay any additional expenses the injured man might incur on his way to full recovery.
I am certain the Samaritan man didn’t set out that day thinking: “I am going to look for a man along the road today and do what I can to help him.” That probably wasn’t in his plan for how his day would go. But as the need arose, He allowed God to work through him spontaneously in the moment. He could have kept walking…two other men already had. But he didn’t. His heart was softened to the needs at hand and he acted, both lovingly and generously.
I like a plan and I am often reluctant to veer from my plan no matter what the situation is. I am stingy with my time and my resources in that way sometimes. I think that’s a pretty normal thing for most of us. But as followers of Christ we are to live abnormally! God calls us to surrender our plan to His plan.
We are created in His image. A reflection of what God is like to the world we live in, perfected and made new by the blood of Christ. That is pretty amazing if you stop to think about it! We are created to be like Christ in all that we do. God designed us in a way for us to see the needs of others, to serve and to love in a way that is different than the world expects. He has moments planned just for you…to show His love and serve in ways so that others might feel His love and get to know Him! Ask God to open your eyes to what He has planned for you today and to give you a willing heart to serve Him in all that you do.
