Morning Devotional 091825 Boldly Love Our Neighbors

Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room

September 18, 2025

Luke 10:30-37

30 Jesus replied, “A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He encountered thieves, who stripped him naked, beat him up, and left him near death. 31 Now it just so happened that a priest was also going down the same road. When he saw the injured man, he crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. 32 Likewise, a Levite came by that spot, saw the injured man, and crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. 33 A Samaritan, who was on a journey, came to where the man was. But when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. 34 The Samaritan went to him and bandaged his wounds, tending them with oil and wine. Then he placed the wounded man on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day, he took two full days’ worth of wages and gave them to the innkeeper. He said, ‘Take care of him, and when I return, I will pay you back for any additional costs.’ 36 What do you think? Which one of these three was a neighbor to the man who encountered thieves?” 37 Then the legal expert said, “The one who demonstrated mercy toward him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Good Morning! Our God is an Awesome God!

What would we do in this same situation? I had a similar conversation with our men’s group last night. 

Suppose we encountered someone who desperately required help, a life-or-death situation. Would we jump into action without hesitation? We want to think, “Yes, of course, I would help!” I pray that we could be so bold in our faith!

Maybe if we’re in our own neighborhood, we would respond, especially if we knew the injured person. Perhaps we can expand that to our community without too many concerns about our safety. When does the situation become too risky for us to help? 

How many of us who live in a small town have been told that when we go into the city, we should not speak to others and shouldn’t look anyone in the eyes because no one who lives in the city can be trusted? 

Imagine being on vacation in a foreign place. You don’t know anybody. You don’t know where things are or how things work. Some are speaking a different language. You’re not entirely at ease in the setting. 

You encounter someone in need of help! What do you do? The easy answer is to call 911 on our cell phone. Would we work to help or comfort the person until help arrives? Could we forget about the meeting or event we were supposed to attend? What if the best we could do was sit on the dirty street and hold the person’s hand? Would we do it? 

These are questions we can only answer for ourselves. Sitting in the comfort of our own space, we say, “Of course!” Let us pray that we could be so strong when the need presents itself. 

Loving Lord, you bless us abundantly! We love you, Lord. Help us open our hearts and love others. Thank you. We love you, Lord! In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen

Thought for the day: Will we be ready to answer, “Of course, I’ll help!”

Christ made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could live! Pastor Liz