And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho… – Luke 10:30, Amplified Bible (AMP)

We can spend a lifetime serving God in a box, and by doing so we will one day find that we barely served Him at all.  By serving God “in a box,” I mean that we choose to confine our service to God to a set of comfortable boundaries that we will not cross. Never willing to inconvenience ourselves, never willing to do something that is uncomfortable, and never willing to respond to the sudden, unexpected needs of others, we only engage in acts of service that we find easy to fit into our daily lives. By limiting our service in these ways, we severely minimize the impact and the influence we can have on others for the cause of Christ.

When the priest and the Levite of Luke 10:25-37 ignored the needs of the robbery victim, they were serving God in a box. Helping the victim was outside the boundaries of comfort, of convenience, and of their set plans, so helping the victim was not an option. The Samaritan, however, understood something the priest and the Levite did not. We are here to help people where they are, not where we would like them to be. By acting on this reality, the Samaritan had tremendous impact on the victim’s life – an impact that both the priest and the Levite could have had for God, had they been filled with God’s mercy, not human selfishness.

Taking the time to help people where they are may not be comfortable, convenient, or within our plans, but we should do so nonetheless. Granted, we cannot help everybody, for we are only human and cannot be everywhere at all times. But, God will place people in our paths whom we can help, and when He does, we ought to do so. Whether the task at hand is offering a cool cup of water, helping someone change a tire, bringing God’s Word to a distressed soul, or binding up the wounds of a robbery victim, be ready to help when given the opportunity. When you seize such opportunities, God will be glorified because the victims you help will see God through you.

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