Bible Reading Blog
“Love God, Love Others”
Categories: Congregational Bible ReadingBIBLE READING: Luke 10
“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10.25)
When the lawyer asked his question, it was not as though he didn’t know what the law said. He knew he was to love God with all his heart, soul, and strength, and love his neighbor as himself; but would he do it?
Many of us are in the same boat with the lawyer. Sometimes we have an information problem, but in many instances we don’t have a knowing problem; we have a doing problem. Twice Jesus said to the lawyer, “Do this.”
Many people know the parable of the Good Samaritan and regard it as a noble story of an extraordinary individual; but this is God’s expectation for everyone who would follow Him. Jesus’ affirmation of the lawyer’s response (Luke 10.27) is more than a declaration of understanding. Loving God means serving others and showing mercy. This is the real issue of the parable.
The inclusion of the priest and Levite emphasizes this point in the story. There is an unspoken expectation that followers of God will lead a compassionate, merciful life. That is why people in need often seek out spiritual counselors. If these characters were common people, we might have excused their behavior… but everyone understands these men SHOULD have stopped to help.
Jesus’ emphasis on serving as a means of loving God highlights that our call is not about following the right checklist or simply maintaining our personal relationship with the Father; it’s about taking God’s will seriously and meeting people’s needs as we can.
In California, more than 600 lawyer hopefuls were taking the state bar exams in the Pasadena Convention Center when a 50- year-old man taking the test suffered a heart attack. Only two of the 600 test takers, John Leslie and Eunice Morgan, stopped to help the man. They administered CPR until paramedics arrived, then resumed taking the exam. Citing policy, the test supervisor refused to allow the two additional time to make up for the 40 minutes they spent helping the victim. Jerome Braun, the state’s bar senior executive for admissions, backed the decision stating, ‘If these two want to be lawyers, they should learn a lesson about priorities.’
The truth is that only two people of the 600 had learned that lesson. Perhaps we have some lessons to learn, as well. Sometimes we become so consumed with our own spiritual journey that we do not see others bloodied and beaten along the way. The parable of the Good Samaritan sets a clear expectation for God’s people: a love for God always translates into love for humanity.
“Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:18)
