Thought of the Day 12.24.08

In Luke 13, Jesus heals a woman who had been horribly sick for 18 years, but the synagogue official is upset that He did this on the Sabbath. He challenges Jesus about this impropriety, arguing that she could have come for healing any of the other six days of the week.

But Jesus, wanting to get at the man’s heart disorder, exposes his hypocrisy by noting that he will untie his own donkey and lead him to water on the Sabbath. The point is obvious: he cares more about the minor needs of his donkey than he does about the major needs of his fellow human beings.

But if we’re honest, most of us are no different than this man. We would eagerly help a wounded or stray dog that we saw suffering, but we turn a blind eye to the hundreds of wounded or stray people that suffer around us every day. And though we rightly cherish God’s forgiveness for such negligence, real gratitude for that Grace would impel us to start sharing more of ourselves with His other children.