A Samaritan and the Long Haul

"...and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him" (Luke 10:34c)

Most of us at one time or another has been "broken down" on the side of the road and in need of emergency assistance. Either that or we have cared enough to stop alongside the highway and help a stranded traveler. At any rate, one thing is sure. We can only do so much for someone when they have been stranded. Anything requiring great technical knowledge or lots of labor is usually not possible then and there. That's why tow trucks are in business!

The Samaritan traveler felt compassion for the wounded Hebrew and did all that he could for him there by the side of the road. As we have discovered already, he interrupted his own journey to stop and render aid. He further became fully involved in meeting his needs by bandaging up his wounds. But there is another quality of this gracious man that we learn as well, beloved. He knew that his "roadside assistance" would not be enough to save the man's life. So the Samaritan put the man on his own beast of burden and took him to the nearest inn for nursing and rehabilitation. In other words, we might say that the Samaritan committed himself to "the long haul."

Ministry needs today as Christians will often cause us to have to commit to "the long haul," beloved. We cannot get by with merely slapping a band-aid on the hurt and hurrying back to our own lives. We are going to encounter people for whom a bag of groceries and a card with money in it are not going to be enough. What do we do as followers of Jesus Christ when the Spirit of God leads us across the path of such ones as these? We must decide, as did the Samaritan, whether or not we are going to be in it for "the long haul"! We are going to have to decide whether or not we will arrange for more extensive and often more costly care. Before we become involved in ministry to this world, then, we must decide how far we are willing to go. What would Jesus do? What did Jesus do? Let His example guide us as we venture forth as His servants to take His love to a world that desperately needs Him so much.

Ron