Too Busy

In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, vss. 25-37, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. In this parable, a man is beaten, robbed and left for dead. Along comes a priest, who would certainly help but doesn't passing by instead. Next a Levites, who was a temple worker, came by and surely he would help but passes by as well.. 

The priest and the Levites may well have been on their way to the Temple. They likely were in a hurry, to stop would have not only delayed them but, if the man were dead, could have defiled them causing them to be delayed further as they went through a purification process befor resuming duties at their posts. They probably felt there was no time and left the task for others who might travel by that day. 

The other who came by was a Samaritan, despised by the Jews, one who would be expected to pass by but stops and helps the man.  We don't know where he was heading or how pressed he was but we know that he was on his way somewhere but took time out to help. 

The point?  Divine appointments like the man needing help are all along the path we travel, even if we are on our way to do good things like church activities, hauling kids to soccer practice or going to a fund raiser walkathon.  If we find that we are too busy to help the person broke down on the road, speak to the man living on the street, check in on the widow next door, etc, - we are too busy. 

I know we can't help everyone we may encounter, but if we help no one who is not on our schedule, we can help no one God may have placed in our path by divine appointment. If we are too busy to deviate from our daily plans, how can we respond to His plans for us - plans we may not have scrawled on our calendars or put in our smart phones?  Jus' Askn.