Have you ever heard someone say, "Can you do me a favor?" It really means that someone is asking someone to do something that they need help with. The person they ask has a choice to either turn their face away or to turn towards them and help them with whatever they ask.
God laid the story of The Good Samaritan on my heart and the very next day, it was my Scripture reading for the day. Coincidence? I think not! The Good Samaritan is the story of a man who was travelling and was attacked, mugged and beaten to the point of near death. Both a priest and Levite came by. Both godly men. Both whose profession was to represent God or at least perform duties in the temple as clean and pure before The Lord. And yet BOTH of them chose to turn their face away, ignoring and avoiding helping another. But a Samaritan, a "half-breed" (part Jew, part Gentile) who was looked down on, even rejected, chose to turn his face toward the wounded man in compassion. His heart went out to the man and not only did he clean and bandage him up, but he took the injured man to a hotel and PAID for his night's stay!
Perhaps the Samaritan was compassionate because he had often been wounded by rejection, and knew how it felt. And perhaps the priest and the Levite had been so caught up in their own "feel good" activities, that they ignored what was right under their noses.
My sweet friends, it is unacceptable for us to turn our faces away any longer. It is no longer optional for us to have sweet little events to entertain our Christian friends at church (don't get mad at me....yes, some are great outreach events....but can't we all sometimes get wrapped up in our little Christian world and loose sight of what is really going on around us?) It is time for the Christian women of this country to step into the commission of Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations.....of all people.....especially the ones who don't look like you or have the same social staus as you. And yes, it will cause you to have to roll up your sleeves and get a little dirty. And yes, it will cause you to sacrifice time and money. And yes it will require you to step out of your comfort zone. But if you don't, the blood of the next generations will be on our hands.
Psalm 90:17 says, "May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us-- yes, establish the work of our hands."
May the favor of God rest on you and may you do your fellow man a favor by turning your face towards them and not away. Have a blessed weekend!
Written by Jena Forehand, Author of Living Deeper: Women helping women walk with God. To find out more, click here
Comments