ESOCS Devotional 7 March 2022
TEXT: LUKE 10:25-42
MEMORY VERSE: “And he answering said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”Luke 10:27 KJV
0 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. 12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted lace ”
The “certain lawyer” in our text who came to test Jesus was a scribe, or a lawyer, or an expert in the Old Testament and Jewish religious traditions (laws). The first of the two questions he asked was to set a trap for Jesus. The lawyer knew this principle of the Sinai law; in fact, he was quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. Jesus talked more about these laws in Matthew 19:16-22 and Mark 10:17-22.
From the parable, we learn four basic principles about loving our neighbor: (1) Lack of love is easy to justify, even though it is never right. (2) Our neighbor is anyone of any race or creed (faith or belief) or social background who is in need. (3) Love means acting to meet the need of another person. (4) Wherever we are, needy people are close by; there is no rationale to refuse them help. It is upon these principles of love that all laws in reference to God is based.
The lawyer treated the wounded man as a topic for discussion. The thieves saw the wounded man as an object to exploit. To the Priest, he was a problem to avoid, and an object of curiosity as far as the Levite was concerned.
In order to establish a spiritual relationship with God, we must first love God, then our neighbor as ourselves. When we do this, it means obedience to His commandment. Now you know better.
- Who is your neighbor? Are you selective in showing love?
- Ask God to give you a free mind to love all.
Read Other ESOCS Devotional here
FURTHER READING: 1 John 4:7-20
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ESOCS Devotional 7 March 2022
