I Wasn't Judged

Luke 10:33:  But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 

It was the summer of 1997 when I met a Good Samaritan. The picture above is my mug shot and is simply a man who could not escape the grips of addiction. The puffiness in the eyes and face is not signs of being in a fight but rather the alcohol and drugs effect on my body.

I was homeless in New Orleans and was walking out of a grocery store with stolen cigarettes and beer and the strangest thing happened.  I walked over to a preacher that had children from his church in the parking lot raising money.  How crazy is that?  A man in my condition with stolen beer in my hand walking over to this preacher and all I wanted from him was prayer.  You see I was so hopeless at the time I didn’t know what to do. What I remember the most about that moment was he didn’t say anything about my drinking, smoking, or the way I looked … he just loved me and prayed for me.

 Luke 6:37:  Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 

It was after he prayed for me and I went about my business --  which was drinking to the point of not knowing where I was and most of the time not knowing what I had done until the next day.  What happened that night would forever change my life …. getting arrested for public intoxication and being placed in jail for seven days.  During that seven days God visited me and my life was forever changed.  I can tell all about that in some other posts but what I want to focus on in this post is what happened the day I got out of jail.  I was walking down Belle Chase Highway across the river from downtown New Orleans and came across the pastor that had prayed for me.  You have to understand there were at least a million people that resided in the New Orleans area so this was not a coincidence.  This was an appointment from God.  He invited me to get into the front seat of his car while his wife graciously moved to the backseat.  I couldn’t believe the love that was shone from somebody I didn’t know.  They bought me something to eat and then they took me to the bookstore and bought me a bible. He got on the phone and tried to find me some employment.  They spent the entire day helping me and loving on me.

You see they were not like the leaders the bible tells us about that passed up someone in need:

Luke 10:30:  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.   Luke 10:31:  And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  Luke 10:32:  And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 

They were the Good Samaritan that had compassion on me.  Often times as Christians and non-believers alike, we think we are compassionate.  When we do not seize the opportunity to stop and help someone with the compassion of Christ, we are no better than the priest and the Levite that passed him by.

How many people passed me by?  How many people have YOU passed by?

Let’s ask God to help us help others.