You know the catchy jingle……..”Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.” You’re singing it in your head right now aren’t you?????
We should be like State Farm; we should be there.
In Matthew 19:19 (b) Jesus said we need to love our neighbor as ourselves. Who is our neighbor?
In Luke 10 we find the parable of the Good Samaritan as Jesus answers that question – who is our neighbor? Jesus tells the story of a man who was robbed and beaten and was laying on the side of the road. He tells of several people who walked by the man and ignored him and did not help him. But a Samaritan traveled by and saw him and took pity on him and helped him with his wounds and then took him on his donkey to a nearby inn and took care of him and then the next day paid the innkeeper to take care of him until he was well enough to go on his own way.
Jesus asked the people who were listening to His teaching, “which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
The expert in the law said “the one who had mercy on him.” And Jesus told him to “go and do likewise.”
Today we also learn from those parables. We need to help those in need. Jesus wasn’t just referring to our physical neighbors – those who live next door or down the street. He is referring to all those we come in contact with who need help.
We do love ourselves a lot don’t we? We buy new golf clubs that we get mad at on a bad day. New purses that are big enough to carry all of the stuff we don’t really need. Nice cars that guzzle too much gas. Bigger houses that cost a lot to heat. Closets full of clothes we don’t wear often. We do treat ourselves well.
How about our neighbor? Jesus said to love them as ourselves. If we follow His instructions, we need to probably step it up and help those who need help – both physically and spiritually. We take care of our own needs. We need to take care of others God places in our paths.
So keep the jingle in your head. Keep the love of Jesus in your hearts. And keep the actions of the Good Samaritan in your spirit. Because like a good neighbor, we should be there! SING IT, BROTHER!
