Love God – Love Others

This entire month, Pastor Scott has been preaching on how loving God and loving others are intrinsic to our faith. I have spent a lot of time reading through several passages of Scripture that support this. Since we were going to be taught on the story of the Good Samaritan, I spent a lot of time in that passage this week.

One thing which really struck me was the description of the manner in which the Samaritan helped the beaten man. The passage says that he “bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine” (Luke 10:34). The irony in that statement is that the Samaritan cared for this wounded man with the very items which the priest and the Levite would have used to worship God in the temple! God had given them all the same substances, oil and wine in this example, and how they used those items demonstrated the true heart of their worship.

Every good thing comes from the Lord (James 1:17). And how we use those things reveals our heart. Not only that, but we grow in our understanding of our identity in Christ and our role in His Kingdom when we practice generosity concerning His gifts to us.

You are generous because of your faith. And I am praying that you will really put your generosity to work, for in so doing you will come to an understanding of all the good things we can do for Christ. Philemon 6

So, what has God given to you? What are you going to do with it? How will you worship the Lord with what He has given? Will you pass by the wounded man by the side of the road? Or will you set your schedule aside for a moment and get your hands dirty for the sake of the God you claim to serve?