Defining the Second Command ...

A contemporary paraphrase of the parable of the Good Samartian could go something like this:

"A man lies injured along a country road leading from Jerusalem to Jericho. Another man comes along riding on his Harley Davidson motorcycle. When he sees the injured man he immediately pulls over to the side of the road, stops, leans over and asks in a concerned tone, "would you like to use my cell phone to call someone?" Hearing nothing the biker rides off mumbling, "I hope that guy has good health coverage. He's going to need it with those injuries!"

That's hardly the attitude Jesus communicated in the parable or that John wrote of when he penned, "We know love by this, that Jesus Christ laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for our brethren. But whoever has the world's goods and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (I John 3:16-17). The love of God (steeped in mercy) pities and relieves the miseries of His creation. Why? Because God always responds out of His nature ... and God is love.

Fulfilling the Second Command of Jesus "to love thy neighbor" is not just a feeling, however deep or strong it might be: it is goodness in action prompted by a Divine compassion within the heart of man. A compassion that is the DNA of God imparted into the fiber of man at the point of full surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The litmus test for a true disciple of Jesus is the demonstration of love. Nothing more and nothing less!

Christians need to come face to face with this reality of scripture. Too often we attempt through our church ministries to go "win souls for Jesus" by inviting them into our services and special programming while ignoring the obvious physical needs of those who pass us by. Jesus never separated the two. We must always be mindful that Christ put the "Go" into the "Gospel" for a reason. For a church that stays behind brick and mortar never really has opportunity to love the world as Jesus did.

G. H. Morrison writes,
"Love never asks how little can I do ... love always asks how much. Love does not merely go to the measured mile ... love travels to the uttermost. Love never haggles, never bargains, with nicely calculated less or more. Love is generous ... abounding in grace and mercy."

Thanks for stopping by today!
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Adrian