A Compassionate Touch
I love the parable of the Good Samaritan that Jesus told in Luke 10. Unlike the priest and the religious Levite who both saw the wounded man lying at the side of road and kept on walking, the Samaritan “saw him and had compassion on him.” He bandaged him up, put him on his donkey, took him to an inn, gave the innkeeper money for his care, and promised to return and pay for any more expenses incurred. Jesus simple word to us is, “Go and do likewise. Love your neighbor as yourself. Open your heart of compassion. Let Me use you to help others in need.”
All through the Gospels we read that wherever Jesus went, He was moved with compassion for people. When He saw the multitudes, He had this deep inward moving of love to heal the sick and feed them miraculously. He had compassion on the widow who was weeping for her dead son and raised him from the dead (Luke 7:14). Two blind men heard that Jesus was passing by and cried out, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” (Matthew 20:30), and Jesus stopped in His tracks, called them, and looked them right in their faces. They couldn’t see Him, but I bet they could feel His compassion as He touched their eyes and healed them.
Compassion is powerful. Jesus didn’t just feel sorry for those in need. He didn’t say, “Oh, well, that’s too bad.” No, His compassion moved Him to action. In the same way, 1 John 3:17 says about us, “If anyone…sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart of compassion against him, how can the love of God live in him?” We all have a heart of compassion that God wants to work through toward others, and it can either be open or shut. If it is shut off, God’s love cannot flow out of it. If we’re going to live the abundant life that God has given us, we need to stir up our heart of compassion and say, “God, open my heart and my eyes to see the people who need my love today.”
We need to be aware of the people whom God puts on our heart. Maybe your spouse or child said something yesterday and you just realized, “Wow, they were hurting, and I missed it.” God wants you to act on that compassion. Recognize that God is saying, “Move now. Reach out. Be there. Listen. Tell them you love them and want to help in any way you can.” You never know. It might just heal a heart and change the course of their destiny!
All through the Gospels we read that wherever Jesus went, He was moved with compassion for people. When He saw the multitudes, He had this deep inward moving of love to heal the sick and feed them miraculously. He had compassion on the widow who was weeping for her dead son and raised him from the dead (Luke 7:14). Two blind men heard that Jesus was passing by and cried out, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” (Matthew 20:30), and Jesus stopped in His tracks, called them, and looked them right in their faces. They couldn’t see Him, but I bet they could feel His compassion as He touched their eyes and healed them.
Compassion is powerful. Jesus didn’t just feel sorry for those in need. He didn’t say, “Oh, well, that’s too bad.” No, His compassion moved Him to action. In the same way, 1 John 3:17 says about us, “If anyone…sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart of compassion against him, how can the love of God live in him?” We all have a heart of compassion that God wants to work through toward others, and it can either be open or shut. If it is shut off, God’s love cannot flow out of it. If we’re going to live the abundant life that God has given us, we need to stir up our heart of compassion and say, “God, open my heart and my eyes to see the people who need my love today.”
We need to be aware of the people whom God puts on our heart. Maybe your spouse or child said something yesterday and you just realized, “Wow, they were hurting, and I missed it.” God wants you to act on that compassion. Recognize that God is saying, “Move now. Reach out. Be there. Listen. Tell them you love them and want to help in any way you can.” You never know. It might just heal a heart and change the course of their destiny!