Love Story #3
Good Samaritan- A Bible Lesson on Love
"One of the parables of Jesus was the story of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10. A lawyer came to Jesus and wanted to prove to the Lord that he wasn't a bad person. Jesus told him that he need to love God with all his heart and his neighbors around him. The lawyer wanted to find out exactly who Jesus meant were his neighbors. In response Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan.
A Jewish man was beaten and left half dead in the street. A priest and a Levite passed by. Though they were Jews too, they chose to leave the man alone thinking that he was not their responsibility. A Samaritan saw the man and offered to nurse him back to health even though the Jews despised the Samaritans. The Samaritan paid for the needed medical care and offered to pay more as necessary.
Though the Jews would not cross the street to help their fellow countryman, a Samaritan realized that all men are his neighbors and showed love and compassion. Jesus told the lawyer that he too should show love to those around him."
Boo Thoughts... I was in Charlotte, waiting to board a SMALL airplane recently. In my company were two Japanese students, who spoke very little English. These two fellows were very nervous, as they inquired about whether their luggage would be on the plane. Standing up from my chair to stretch a bit before boarding, I turned around to the remainder of the waiting area and noticed at least 13 lively, laughing, Muslim students having a grand time. The atmosphere became a little more tense once on board when the stewardess approached four of these students, who were sitting in the emergency exit row. Their comprehension of the questions the flight attendant was asking them left than less than what I would call a level of confidence and comfort in the ability of my fellow passengers to carry out the instructions...written in English on the plane door! The lack of English understanding kept this entire group from quieting down during the attendant's overall instructions to the passengers on safety features. She had to raise her voice over the micro-phone asking them to be quiet for 3 minutes!
Reading the Good Samaritan story has me searching my heart, wondering if I would have gone to their aid or that of the Japanese fellows if they exhibited a need..I think my apprehension would have mainly been because of the language barrier. Earlier I had assisted an older African American woman in the airport, who did not know where to go to wait for the handicap cart to take her to her next flight. I was johnny on the spot with sympathy for her, but would I have been for these younger foreigners. Lord, I hope so. If not...change my heart.
