Bible League: Living His Word "Go and do likewise."Our verse for today is part of Jesus' Parable of the Good Samaritan. The second greatest commandment is "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18). Jesus was asked by an expert in the Law of Moses, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus defined "neighbor" for him by telling a story about a Samaritan who helped a man that had been beaten, robbed, and left for dead. Unlike a priest and a Levite that passed the man by without helping him, the Samaritan bandaged the man's wounds, took him to an inn, and paid for his care. Jesus said the expert should "Go and do likewise." Who, then, is my neighbor according to Jesus? It could be anyone. It could be, as in the parable, a complete stranger. My neighbor is anyone who comes into my sphere of personal responsibility. When a person is in need and there is no one else, then it falls to me to do something. It does not matter that I may not know the person, it does not matter that I may have come upon the person by accident, and it does not matter that I have other things I would prefer to do. Indeed, it does not matter that the person may be someone I do not care for, or even an enemy. The priest and the Levite, knowing the Law of Moses, knew what they should have done, but they did not do it. It is not the person who knows and professes the second greatest commandment who keeps it, but the person who actually loves his neighbor. It is the person who does good things for his neighbor that meets the obligations of the commandment, especially when it requires personal sacrifice of some kind, especially when the neighbor is an enemy. True love for one's neighbor, according to Jesus' parable, means that we must be ready to deny ourselves in order to help someone else. God is God over all people. His commandment is a commandment that holds for all people and is meant to benefit all people. Our neighbor is a fellow member of the human race and, as such, deserves all the care and respect the commandment entails. When a neighbor comes into our sphere of personal responsibility, we must set aside our prejudices and self-centered interests and do what we can, just like the Good Samaritan. Go, therefore, and do what he did. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingAmos 7, 8, 9 Amos 7 -- Amos' Visions of Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line; Amos Accused by Amaziah NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Amos 8 -- Basket of Fruit and Israel's Captivity NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Amos 9 -- The Certainty of God's Judgment and Israel's Restoration NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Revelation 7 Revelation 7 -- The 144,000 Sealed; the Multitude in White Robes NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it's here a little while, then it's gone.Insight Life is short no matter how many years we live. Don't be deceived into thinking that you have lots of remaining time to live for Christ, to enjoy your loved ones, or to do what you know you should. Challenge Live for God today! Then, no matter when your life ends, you will have fulfilled God's plan for you. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Matthew 11:28 Come unto me.The cry of the Christian religion is the gentle word, "Come." The Jewish law harshly said, "Go, take heed unto thy steps as to the path in which thou shalt walk. Break the commandments, and thou shalt perish; keep them, and thou shalt live." The law was a dispensation of terror, which drove men before it as with a scourge; the gospel draws with bands of love. Jesus is the good Shepherd going before his sheep, bidding them follow him, and ever leading them onwards with the sweet word, "Come." The law repels, the gospel attracts. The law shows the distance which there is between God and man; the gospel bridges that awful chasm, and brings the sinner across it. From the first moment of your spiritual life until you are ushered into glory, the language of Christ to you will be, "Come, come unto me." As a mother puts out her finger to her little child and woos it to walk by saying, "Come," even so does Jesus. He will always be ahead of you, bidding you follow him as the soldier follows his captain. He will always go before you to pave your way, and clear your path, and you shall hear his animating voice calling you after him all through life; while in the solemn hour of death, his sweet words with which he shall usher you into the heavenly world shall be--"Come, ye blessed of my Father." Nay, further, this is not only Christ's cry to you, but, if you be a believer, this is your cry to Christ--"Come! come!" You will be longing for his second advent; you will be saying, "Come quickly, even so come Lord Jesus." You will be panting for nearer and closer communion with him. As his voice to you is "Come," your response to him will be, "Come, Lord, and abide with me. Come, and occupy alone the throne of my heart; reign there without a rival, and consecrate me entirely to thy service." Daily Light on the Daily Path John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.John 17:9,10,15,16 "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; • and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. • "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. • "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. John 15:9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. John 15:13,14 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. • "You are My friends if you do what I command you. John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. Philippians 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Ephesians 5:25,26 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, • so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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