In Luke 10 Jesus shares the parable of the good samaritan. In order to test Jesus, an expert in the law asked “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asked, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” The man responded, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Jesus said, “Right. Do this and you will live!” The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Enter in the good Samaritan.
“A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
“By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
“Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
The Samaritan was on a journey and happened upon a person in need of assistance and assisted him. And the next day was back on his journey. He took care of the man and put him up in an inn paid for his expenses and then kept on jamming. The Samaritan didn’t cancel his journey, nor in this case did he take the man on his journey, but he did take the time to help solve this man’s problem.
For all you animal lovers out there, there is more than one way to skin a cat. There is more than one option to help a person in need of assistance. For instance, maybe you are a single lady and there is a man who needs a ride but you don’t feel comfortable driving him yourself. In order to help this person and insure your safety you pay for an Uber driver to take him to his destination. Or maybe there is a person in need of a place to stay for the night but you don’t feel comfortable having them in your house. I know people who have let someone sleep in their garage. You could let them sleep in a tent in the backyard, or like the Samaritan you could pay for a hotel for the night or more.
There is more than one way to help your neighbor. Don’t be afraid to get creative.