Day 271
Matthew 12: 11-12
“And He said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it our? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.”
Jesus encountered religious leaders who constantly complained that He was working on the Sabbath day when He would heal someone on that particular day. This, according to their law, was not permissible. Jesus tried to show them how foolish their thinking was by comparing what He was doing to what any of them would do for an animal if it fell into a pit. Although rescuing it could be considered work, none of them would leave his sheep in a pit until the Sabbath was over to avoid working on the Sabbath day. He explained that it would be just as absurd to see a human suffering and wait until the Sabbath was over to help him.
There are people in this world who will exert great effort to save animals and at the same time encourage the destruction of human life through abortion, euthanasia or other means. God cares about animals, and so should we. However, He has made it plain that He cares much more for man then He does for animals.
Seeing God’s view should not only help us care more for people than for animals, but it should also cause us to care more for people in general. God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power to go about doing good and heal all that were oppressed by the devil. Jesus’ entire mission was for the benefit of humanity.
Finally, helping people should not be seen as work, but as a normal reaction to seeing a need. If we saw an animal in trouble, although it would require some effort to get the animal free, we would not think of it as work at the time. Once, Jesus and His disciples were so busy helping people that, He had to tell them to stop. They had not taken time to rest or eat. May God help us to grow to the point where helping people becomes such a normal thing, that we will have to tell ourselves to stop and rest. Most people only have time to tell themselves to stop and rest when they have been very busy doing things that benefit themselves.
I am getting closer to God and God is getting closer to me. As a result, it is becoming more and more natural for me each day to help people.