Wednesday
Read: Luke 10:25–42
SOAP: Luke 10:27
The expert answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
Devotion
An expert in religious law correctly summed up the Old Testament law. To inherit eternal life one must love God with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind, and love their neighbor. Luke combined two seemingly unrelated events to display how this is practically lived out.
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus described a man from Samaria who was willing to help a Jewish man who had been beaten by robbers. Both a priest and a Levite passed the man and refused to help him. Jesus explained how loving one’s neighbor meant showing mercy and compassion to those who need it most, regardless of their status, nationality, background, or ability to repay. The Samaritan man, the unlikely hero in the story, was the one who displayed love to his neighbor. His actions set the standard for how we are to love others.
When Jesus entered Martha’s house, she welcomed Him as a guest. This meant she prepared a meal for Him and a place for Him to sleep. Martha displayed the same attitude of love toward her neighbor as the Samaritan had in Jesus’ parable. Jesus did not scold Martha for her service, for her service to Him was vitally important to the kingdom of God. Jesus corrected Martha for misordering her priorities and for wanting Mary to stop sitting with Jesus and help her with the preparations.
Jesus blessed Mary for her desire to learn from her Lord. Mary displayed a heart, soul, strength, and mind that were fully in love with her God. She understood that even though there was much to be done, her priority was to spend time listening to Jesus.
Mary is the example of how we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. She went to Jesus first and was not distracted by other tasks. The Samaritan shows us how we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, taking care of a man who could give him nothing back. When our hearts are aligned with God, our service to others will overflow out of our love for Him.
