Imagine if we all actually acted like Jesus? Imagine if we were nice and showed compassion to everyone? What could happen? We shouldn’t wait for others to do things; we should rise up and do whatever it is that needs to be done. I came upon this conclusion once as I was walking out of a meeting for yearbook.

 It was lunchtime and I was walking to where all of my friends usually eat. In the hallway, I came across a fellow peer who was eating lunch alone. I had known this guy from a club I was apart of and knew that he had trouble fitting in with the rest of the group. He has always been left out of everything and some people wouldn’t even notice if he was in school or not. I always felt sorry for the guy but never did anything to make him feel included. I would simply just stand by and watch. Anyways, while I was walking by him I felt like I should sit next to him and talk with him for awhile. However, like all the times before, I just said “hi” and kept walking on by. While I was in the stairwell, I said a simple prayer to God saying, “God, please help him.” The moment I said it I instantly felt God say to me, “Well, why don’t you?” BAM. Gosh God, that hurt.

I was instantly convicted. But you know what? Like always, God was right. Why didn’t I help him? Why wasn’t I the one to include him and be nice? I prayed because I wanted God to send him blessings and friends and help him with anything he was going through, but God was asking me why didn’t I help him and bless him. After this revelation, I told myself that I would do my best to make him feel included whenever I saw him next. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity, for this guy moved out of town.

The truth is, we always want someone else to do the dirty work. We always want someone else to go help that loner or bless that homeless person. We want someone else to go witness the Gospel to our friends and family. But, have you ever thought that maybe God is sending you to that person? Maybe someone is praying for their friend to be blessed and you are the one who is supposed to bless them!

This reminds me of a parable Jesus used in Luke 10:30. The parable tells a story of a man who was beaten and left on the side of the road. While he was lying there half-dead, two “good” people passed by him offering no help. They probably felt ashamed or thought “Someone else will help him.” This “someone” just so happened to be a Samaritan. Samaritans were particularly hated in Jesus’ time period, and it makes the story more interesting because they would probably have been the last person you would suspect to help a wounded stranger. The point of the parable is to show people that everyone needs compassion and mercy. Don’t be like the priest and Levite who passed by the wounded man. Stop waiting for others to witness the Gospel, for others to help those who are broken, for others to give. Rise up and be the one.