My Thursday Thoughts | February 11, 2021

So today (yesterday by the time you read this) begins a stretch of frigid weather that will blanket mich of North Central Texas, including the DFW metroplex. It’s 30 outside at 4 a.m as I type this. Lows are expected to fall into the teens over the weekend, with highs hovering around freezing.

I am grateful for a roof over my head and a warm bed to sleep in. I’m thankful for my wife and our home and our furry peeps scampering around from sunny spot to cozy corner.

Several people we serve will remain outside for one reason or another. For them, this will be a life or death week. Life on the streets is hard. At the place I serve and minister to people through the gift of food, we will feed them three meals a day while working with them to get them off the streets and into a shelter. Some will likely sleep in our chairs and on our floors. All while doing life in the middle of a pandemic, wearing masks, and doing our best to socially distance as we prayerfully serve our guests, hoping to get them off the streets permanently, and pointing them to the Cross and a relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ. For without God, nothing much will really change.

In one of our weekly discussions, we talked about compassion, another of the words God has brought to the forefront of my mind along with transition and flexibility.

Jesus shares a story about what compassion looks like in action. The parable focuses on a traveler who is stripped of his clothing, beaten, and left for dead alongside the road. At the heart of the parable is the principle that compassion often comes from the least expected sources. It reflects the amazing reality that God chose to shower us with His grace. Compassion blends mercy and grace. When we practice it, we pay homage to the God we follow.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

²⁵ And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” ²⁷ And he answered, “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.” ²⁸ And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

²⁹ But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰ Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a ⁽priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.³² So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴ He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.³⁵ And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ ³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” ³⁷ He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

May you be filled with kindness and compassion. While you may not be able to impact everyone, you can impact someone.

I pray that you will have a blessed week and that the Lord showers you with His favor. 

Blessings, 

The Devotional Guy™

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