A Change of Plans 🙂 Why do we do the things we do?

WHY DO WE DO WHAT WE DO? 

Luke 10: 25-29 ‘“And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” 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.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”’

 

Have you ever thought about, why do we do the things we do? Why do we help one and ignore another? …And who do we consider to be our neighbor? In our scripture verses today, Jesus answers a gentleman’s questions about what he should do to reach heaven.

Jesus responds by telling a story. About a man that is robbed and left for dead on the side of the road when three individuals pass by. The first is a priest and the second a Levite. The priest and Levite don’t even pause to help. Instead, they cross the road to avoid facing the problem.

Pause for a moment and consider that…

Here are two religious men who have devoted their lives to doing the right thing and they each pass by someone in desperate need.

You see, there is a difference between mercy and sacrifice.               Mercy is others-focused, doing for someone - what they can’t do for themselves. Sacrifice is self-focused, giving something up to prove my devotion. Jesus was all about mercy. He came for those who knew they needed mercy as the one who offered mercy.

To have a heart of mercy is to have a heart like Jesus, who sees the needs of others and does something about it.

The priest and Levite didn’t get it. They were focused on themselves, which enabled them to walk right past an opportunity to demonstrate God’s love lived out.

So, who is our neighbor?

This passage speaks loudly especially to those of us who know Christ as our personal Savior.

For, our neighbor is the very next hurting person we meet, whether friend or enemy. God has enabled us to reach out with His love and mercy to a lost and hurting world.

The Lord Jesus reaches out and touches His world through our loving hands. We become His eyes, His hands, His feet and His heart as we minister His grace in His name.

Moreover, if you have a personal relationship with Jesus as Lord and Savior your heart is already filled with love, mercy and power. Now you have the ability be a good "Samaritan."

Someone has said, "Grace is the mother of compassion." It begins with a changed life from the inside out.

When we place our faith in God, then Christ comes and dwells in us, and His love begins to flow through us to others.

That is the only way we can love our neighbor. Christ floods our hearts with His life. It is an exchanged life. He lives His life through us to reach a lost world.

Life happens… and good works can never earn us God’s love, but they certainly reveal it.

At the root, it’s a heart issue – not what we do, but why we do it.

So, I’ll leave you with a question: “Why do you do the things you do? 

God certainly doesn’t need our good works – but our neighbor just might. The “why” behind our works is to reveal the love of God.

God Bless! 

This devotion is based on a devotion from "Right From the Heart Ministries"