“He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn...

...and took care of him.” Luke 10:34

Last night as my kids and I were driving on one of the very rural roads near our house, we came upon a vehicle that had lost control, rolled and landed in a ditch upside down. There were a couple other cars in front of us, all of us pulled off to see how we could help. The other drivers were working to see about the number of passengers and getting the driver (the only person in the car) out. They grabbed hammers, smashed windows, and were able to safely free the very shaken up young lady within a few minutes. I had grabbed my cell phone and along with another woman, tried to help the emergency responders find us. We were on a county road that wasn’t registering in their system, so they had to get help to find us.

Afterward, the kids and I were pretty shaken up, but used it as a chance to talk about helping others and having a “Samaritan” attitude. A sermon at our church last week was recounting the parable of the Good Samaritan. It was focused on this passage in Luke. The point was that as Christians, our job of living as Jesus did means that we need to get in and get our hands dirty. If we are going to make a difference in this world, we cannot simply stand on the sidelines and wait for someone more trained or capable to help. Jesus commands us to move in the moment and be His hands and feet to those in this world who need to see His grace.

Later last night, I was heavily burdened with the night’s incidents and the parable of the Samaritan. He wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. He went further than that and took the injured man to an inn, paid the innkeeper to watch over him and came back for him. It forced me to think, did I do everything I could have for this young girl trapped in her car? Honestly, no. I could have been there with the men working to free her, getting my hands dirty. And, how often do I see opportunity to help someone in need and keep walking, driving or whatever it is I’m doing that I don’t want to be interrupted from by stopping to help. I am always moved to help by disaster, or images on television. But, what about the homeless person on the corner? More often than not, I know I am not tuned in to the opportunity to help. Which reminds me that Jesus said, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' (Matthew 25:40)

God uses these moments to teach. I’ve got a lot to learn. But, my prayer is that my heart stays open to the lessons and I keep moving closer to God with every experience.