I bet most of you have heard this story before, but we all need to be reminded of the stories from when we were younger. The events in the bible that taught us our morals. So here goes nothing...
Some children smell awful. I'm talking about a stench so bad that it makes you want to cry. Being apart of the marketing team at Chick-Fil-A, I get to work with kids and most of them smell terrible. For instance; Today was spirit night at the store and I was face painting. When a kid came up and smelled awful, or told me they were sick, or just coughed and sneezed all over the place, I was hesitant to help them out. I didn't show them the love I was giving other good-smelling children. Ironically enough, the kids that were a little different were the ones with the best manners. They were the kids who wanted to chat and befriend me and my coworker. They were the ones that wanted to show us love.
These kids reminded me of the good samaritan. Samaritans are portrayed in the bible as the "do-gooders". The one's that are so different, yet the first in line to help someone in need. They are the people that "smell bad".
Well, there's a parable in the bible that talks about the good samaritan:
25Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. "Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?"
26He answered, "What's written in God's Law? How do you interpret it?"
27He said, "That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself."
28"Good answer!" said Jesus. "Do it and you'll live."
29Looking for a loophole, he asked, "And just how would you define 'neighbor'?"
30-32Jesus answered by telling a story. "There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.
33-35"A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man's condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I'll pay you on my way back.'
36"What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?"
37"The one who treated him kindly," the religion scholar responded.
Jesus said, "Go and do the same."
Luke 10:25-37 (The Message)
Jesus says to go and do the same. Go out and treat people with a kind heart and a willing
hand to help. It may be very hard at times to reach out to someone who might not be
in great condition and may repulse you, but those are the people who need your
love the most.
I challenge all to be a good samaritan in any situation. Whether it be at school, or at the DMV
(which is a very challenging place to be nice, I understand). "Go and do the same"
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