WATCHWORD:
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds… Luke 10:30-34
Meditation:
I Shoulda…
What, you ask, is a ‘shoulda’? A ‘shoulda’ in your life are all those times when the Lord has led you to a point where you have an opportunity to live what you believe and do the right thing, but instead you turned your back and walked away. Or perhaps there were other times when you watered down your faith so as not to ‘offend’ those listening or those you wish to impress. I ‘shoulda’ done this or I ‘shoulda’ done that. A ‘shoulda’ is actually a sign of sin, a failure to follow the Lord.
I have to confess that my own ‘shoulda’ that keeps popping up is when I have an opportunity to speak my faith, or to offer grace before a meal with a group of people I may or may not know, and to my shame I have softened my words, made them less ‘offensive’, so to speak, in my own mind. And I come away, feeling that I have demonstrated that I am ashamed of the Gospel and my Lord by my own actions and/or omissions.
How about you? What do you do about the ‘shoulda’ in your life? In the parable of the good Samaritan a number of people had the opportunity to reach out and help the victim of a robbery laying in the road before them. They ‘shoulda’ acted, but they chose to pass by on the other side. They ‘shoulda’ shown love.
In this world of ours, this present day is filled with the debris left by the unfulfilled ‘shoulda’, times when we fail to love others as Christ loved us. Times when we passed by on the other side and failed to do likewise as we would want others to treat us. We’ve attempted to train our children in the good ways, to demonstrate actively responding to the ‘shoulda’ in their lives and then we turn around and avoid lovingly acting and all the lessons that we have tried to teach the young become debris left behind, because they learn from what they see in us.
May the Lord strengthen us to respond to those those opportunities before us and to act to love others as our Lord has loved us, and not be left standing there on the ‘shoulda’ of sin. May it be such with us.
Remembrance:
On this day, January 23, 2016, Joanne, my wife of 44 years, passed away, following five years of courageously fighting an incurable lung disease. A loving wife, mother and committed Christian, she set a standard for our family and for all who knew her. While we miss her, Vera Joanne Escott, is our forever guardian angel.
Closing Prayer:
Help us heavenly father to fully embrace your commands and walk with you throughout these lives of ours. We pray this in the name of your son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.
