Following the account of the mission of the seventy-two, Luke records the conversation that includes Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan. The context is important. Here is the point: you don’t have to be some special kind of person to join the mission of Jesus. All you need is love. These days, the word ‘love’ denotes a passionate preference for someone or something. That’s quite contrary to the biblical definition. To truly love someone is to honour them as sacred without partiality. The reason people are sacred is that they are God’s children, so, you cannot love people if you don’t first love God. The whole purpose of the mission of Jesus is to seek and save God’s lost children (see Luke 15). The only qualification you need therefore is love. God will work through us if we are willing to love people enough to share what we have with them. Jesus uses a Samaritan to exemplify this point because they were seen as a depraved people and therefore deemed ineligible for service. The Samaritan, however, was more qualified than the most esteemed experts in moral living. That was a shocking point for the religious leaders to hear. But if you are truly devoted to God this should be encouraging for you. It means that the only thing you need today to be used by God for his purpose is love. You only need to care enough for others to show interest in them over yourself and to share what you have with them: your time, energy, resources, and, most importantly, your faith. Do this, pray, and see how God will use you.
Pray for the people around you and for opportunities to bless and share.
Read Luke 10:25-37
