I think of this story every Christmas. I guess I wonder if it was Christmas-time when they did what they did.

I am forever thankful. How I wish I knew their names.

I’m sure they are walking the streets of glory now with the Savior, but I wonder if they know how very much they changed my life, and many others.

I wonder when they first noticed the poor boy down the street.

I’m so thankful they saw him.

I wonder if their car was already full of children when they made room for my daddy to ride along.

I’m so thankful they didn’t pass my daddy by.

Because they saw my dad, because they made room, because they picked up the kid down the street and took him to church, my family has been changed for generations.

My dad grew up with some horrifically hard stuff, but he met Jesus and, because of that, the course of his life was forever changed.

Dad grew up to marry a precious woman who loves Jesus, too, and loves His Word; and now he has kids and grandkids who love God too.

What might have seemed like a small act by a couple so very long ago, has forever impacted so many people.

As I read this morning of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, I’m struck by the last words of the well-known parable, “You go, and do likewise.”

You go, and do likewise!
YOU go, and do likewise.

God, help me do likewise. Help me slow down enough to see others. Help me make room in my car and in my life.

Help me not pass them by like the priest and the Levite did in the parable.

Especially now.

So many are hurting, isolated, and depressed. So many may even look fine on the outside, but are drowning in fear and worry on the inside.

Help me remember, we were all put on earth with a purpose. We all have a role to fill as God’s Kingdom grows and advances.

We were never born to serve only ourselves, or EVEN just to serve our own families.

It’s so easy at Christmas to do a few things to serve others and then go on with our self-focused lives the rest of the year.

Oh God, how many have I passed by like those in the Parable of the Good Samaritan?

How many have You brought to my mind that I’ve just ignored?

Father, help us see them. Help us serve them. Use us to help others see You, so their lives and their children’s lives after them, may be forever changed.

Because God, You really do change things. You do.

May we remember the greatest commandment, the commandment at the beginning of that familiar parable of the Good Samaritan: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt 22:37)

My NEIGHBOR….
Your NEIGHBOR…
God, help us not pass them by…

Thank You God for the people you use and the lives you change as You’ve changed mine.

What a Savior!

aweandwonder

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