Go To Them

“But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him.”

Luke 10:33–34

Maybe you’ve experienced this situation: You’re looking at a very familiar passage of Scripture and you see something you had never noticed before—something that speaks directly to what you’re dealing with right now. That happened to me once when I was reading Jesus’ story of the good Samaritan.

The story begins, “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead” (v. 30 NKJV).

That’s when it struck me: How many people today are in situations just like this man’s? Hurt and wounded in different ways, people are lying on the side of the road for so many different reasons—abuse, addictions, imprisonments, loss, famine, disease, people broken by injustice, and people stripped of their dignity, identity, and self-worth.

Then I read: He went to him. I read the entire story again, slowly . . . and scales fell from my eyes.

I had always thought of myself as the good Samaritan. Now God was asking me if I would really go to the wounded, leaving behind my fear of the heaviness of their situations. He invites you, too, on a journey toward going, giving, and loving, free from fear and full of compassion.

Thank You, Lord, for Your Word that speaks to me and Your Spirit who transforms my heart.