Our son-in-law was lying by the side of the road. His motorcycle was lying a distance from him after he lost control of it in some gravel on the curve of a road. His leg was at an unnatural angle. He was unable to stand.  He couldn’t reach his phone, which was on the bike, to call for help.  After a few minutes, a car passed.  The young woman in the passenger seat noticed him.  “Pull over, Mom.  We need to help that guy.”  She dialed 911,  jumped out, and ran to our son-in-law.  He asked her to get his phone so he could let our daughter know he wouldn’t be home on time.  Meanwhile, the young woman’s mom, a caring Hispanic woman,  drove a stone’s throw home and got her husband.  He hurried to help even though he had a triple bypass heart surgery only 6 months prior. He sat down beside Aaron, our son-in-law, and kept him company till the ambulance arrived about 15 minutes later.  He offered to take Aaron’s motorcycle to his house and later bring it to Aaron’s house. He stayed while the medics slowly and carefully prepared him for transport. Only after Aaron left in the ambulance did he get up and take the bike home.  A few days later, he carefully trailered the bike safely to our daughter and son-in-law’s house, refusing to take any reimbursement.

Our pastor preached a sermon about the Good Samaritan on Sunday after our son-in-law had just had the great benefit of a Good Samaritan a few days earlier. Actually, a family of Good Samaritans! His story was also an interracial story. We’ve all heard of Black-Hispanic gang conflict on city streets, and unease in neighborhoods. But these merciful folks crossed racial boundaries to give generous assistance. And not just in-the-moment help, but follow-up help at their own expense. A replay of Jesus’ story.

“One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”
The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18
“Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” Luke 10:25-28

Many people give mental assent to the teachings of the Bible. But just like the teacher in Jesus’ story, they aren’t living their everyday lives in alignment with the Bible. They admire the lofty principles of the Bible: Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor. But they’re unwilling to sacrifice in order to truly love. Their actions don’t agree with what they claim to believe. As soon as it costs denying their own desires, they take the selfish route instead of the loving road. Agreeing that these principles are good is easy. Living those principles is hard.

Loving God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind gets personal and costly every day, because what we naturally want is opposed to what God wants.
Heart- We want to excuse our self-centeredness- if we don’t look out for ourselves, who will? God asks us to give up being the center of our lives and put him at the center, instead.
Soul- We have a tendency to starve our souls while putting great emphasis on the externals. God asks us to make the spiritual our priority.
Strength- We put a lot of effort into getting because we expect to find happiness in getting. God asks us to put a lot of effort into giving because we will find happiness in giving.
Mind- We want explanations for all our questions. God asks us to trust his goodness and power.

“The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” [Like us, he knew he wasn’t living up to this lofty principle of loving others as much as himself.]
Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
“By chance, a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
“Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins,[at least $320.] telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.” Luke 10:29-37

Loving our neighbor as much as ourselves is against our instincts. It’s easy to love ourselves to the exclusion of others. We have to give up something to care for others. We have to give up time that could have been spent on ourselves. We have to give up comfort because meeting needs drags us into the ugly nitty gritty of others’ lives. We have to give up some of our money because loving means helping with material needs. We have to give up our prejudices  because even those who aren’t like us need our help.

“Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith. Galatians 6:7-10 (NLT)

We are promised rewards from God when we habitually go against our natural, selfish human inclinations. Our willingness to love God and others shows that we have faith. And faith is the key to eternal life.
God promises that we will benefit from every act of obedience. Each time we put God ahead of our own desires. Each time we feed our souls before feeding our pride. Each time we put effort into helping others above selfish efforts. Each time we put childlike trust in our God instead of demanding answers. Each time we give the same care for others that we do for ourselves. These will result in everlasting life. We begin experiencing this level of life when we trust God enough to obey. It’s a life full of the presence of God. It’s a life lived for the kingdom of God. It’s a life full of happiness in God. It’s a life of faith that acknowledges that we’re not capable of this perfect love. We fall short constantly. That’s why we need a Savior. He gives us forgiveness and strength to keep trying. He gives us eternal life that begins now and stretches beyond our death into eternity.

PS. Aaron is home and healing after surgery.  We thank God for his mercy and the help of caring strangers. Would sure appreciate prayers for a good recovery.