Luke 10:33  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.

Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan to help his questioner identify who his neighbor was.  When Jesus finished, the questioner rightly concluded that of the three travelers, the Samaritan was the neighbor of the man who fell into the hands of the robbers, because the Samaritan had mercy on him.

Our focus today is on the Samaritan – not the other two who failed to respond.  Note that when the Samaritan saw the man in need, he took pity on him.  It wasn’t a matter of the Samaritan having an internal argument within himself on what was the right thing to do in this situation.  His kindness and generosity were expressions of his life. The Samaritan was a loving man.

We Christians must become the same kind of loving people that he was.  We want our love to be genuine – a love that moves us to respond with right hearts.  This is something that we grow in.  By responding to the situations we see, He opens our eyes to see more.  God is working within each of us so that kindness and generosity will be natural responses that we make to situations we encounter.  This is how we love those around us – how we love our neighbors.

Do you realize that we can be the answer that God sends in response to the prayers of those in need around us?  That’s want He wants!  Maybe they don’t pray or think about God, but because of the kindness through us, they will take note of our love and wonder where it comes from.  Think of the joy and honor of being asked by someone, “Why are you so different?  Why are you so thoughtful and kind?”  To which we can answer, “Let me tell you about Jesus.”