A Missed Opportunity
Do you ever rush from one activity to another without really stopping to consider those whom you come in contact with?
As technology increases, it seems that human interaction decreases. With self-checkout, you can now check out at the grocery store or Walmart without speaking to anyone.
Sometimes this seems convenient, but we are missing many opportunities to encourage someone or more importantly, share the gospel with them.
What opportunities are you missing to reach out to someone God has placed in your path because you were too busy or too preoccupied to notice?
Sadly, sometimes we may even be too busy doing “spiritual” things. God often places detours in our lives to give us divine encounters. Unfortunately, we are often too busy being stressed out or flustered to take advantage of these opportunities.
In Luke 10:25-37, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. Most of us are familiar with this story, I’m sure. If not, you can read it in detail in your Bible. In this parable, there were two men who missed an opportunity to demonstrate the true fulfillment of the law – to love God and love their neighbor.
Jesus told this story in response to a lawyer who asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus being the all-wise one, met the man where he was at. He knew this man was religious and well-versed in the Jewish Old Testament law. He used the law to bring conviction.
Luke 10:26-30,
“[Jesus] said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? …he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.”
There are four types of men in this story to consider:
The Robbers
The Robbers in this passage represent the effects sin has upon the lost person. They took everything the man owned leaving him to die on the side of the road. Sin will do the same thing to you or me if we choose to live separated from Christ.
If you go to any major city in our country, you will find people laying out in the streets who have surrendered to the power of sin in their lives. What a sad reality. Apart from the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that could be you or me.
The Religious Men
Two men – the Priest and the Levite – had the opportunity to remain and help the perishing man. Sadly, they were too busy being “religious” to stop and give their aid.
What about you…
Do you get so caught up doing “spiritual” activities that you are too busy to pause and lend a hand to those whom God has placed in your path?
Are you in too big of a hurry grabbing your coffee on the way to Bible study to hand the cashier a tract?
Religion without the love of Christ is empty and vain. It is having the law without grace. It is having rules without relationships. If we are too busy to display true sacrificial, unconditional love, then we are too busy.
The Righteous Man
Luke 10:33,
“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,”
The Good Samaritan in this parable pictures the Lord Jesus Christ (the righteous man). The Samaritans were a rejected people. They were hated by the Jews. Just as the Samaritans were rejected, so was the Lord Jesus Christ.
Even though the Good Samaritan had been rejected by the Jews, he stopped and showed love and compassion to this Jew in need. While we were still enemies of God, lost in our sin, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:7-8, 10,
“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
Jesus Christ demonstrated the greatest love possible when He laid down His life for us.
John 15:13,
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
The Redeemed Man
Luke 10:34,
“And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.”
Because the Samaritan stopped and had compassion, a dying man was saved. Both the Priest and the Levite passed by the helpless man.
Fanny Crosby wrote the words,
“Pass me not, O gentle Savior, Hear my humble cry….”
Before we were saved, we were like the man who was robbed and left to die on the side of the road. We were destined to perish in our sin without hope. I am so grateful Jesus did not pass me by when I needed Him, and He will not pass you by either.
As a child, when I trusted Jesus as my personal Savior, He redeemed my soul. He desires to redeem your soul as well.
Friend, if you have never trusted in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and repented of your sins, please do so today. We never know how much time we have left here on this earth.
We need to see people through the eyes of Christ. Jesus meets us where we are at. He sees our needs and seeks to fulfill them according to His will.
We need to meet people where they are at and seek to show them the true unconditional love of Christ. We need to look for the opportunities God places upon our path. When He gives us a detour from our plans, we need to consider to whom He is giving us the opportunity to share the Gospel.
I was convicted this week as I read this story to consider what opportunities I have been missing in my life.
May we all be challenged to look for the moments we have been missing to show compassion and the unconditional love of Christ!