Word for Today - for Pastors

Pastor, reorder your priorities (1) 29 Mar 2005
'...A...PRIEST...LIKEWISE A LEVITE... PASSED BY ON THE OTHER SIDE.' LUKE 10:31-32
When a mugging victim was left for dead on the Jericho Road, a priest and a Levite both '...passed by on the other side.' But what if they overlooked the man not because they lacked compassion, but because they were late for a Bible study or a prayer meeting? Would they have been justified?

One pastor said, 'This parable didn't register until I'd been in ministry for years. I'd walked past so many people who could have used my help, but because I was too distracted by church programmes, broken lives by the roadside rarely fitted into my agenda. Love isn't efficient; it can't be scheduled. This hurting man couldn't have waited three weeks for an appointment, or for the Samaritan to launch a ministry to care for similar victims.' Life's most rewarding experiences rarely come in neat little packages. They are found in unexpected encounters, and at critical times in the lives of your congregation. In fact, chances are some people who can't remember your last sermon, can tell you in detail what you said to them in the hospital or over coffee last year; it touched them personally. Nothing is more seductive than thinking your work on behalf of the multitudes justifies ignoring those who can only be reached individually. Jesus said, 'If a shepherd has one hundred sheep, and one...is lost...Won't he... go...search for the lost one?' (Matthew 18:12 NLT). When Peter said, 'Lord...I love You!' Jesus replied, 'Take care of My sheep' (John 21:16 NIV) Pastor, He's saying the same thing to you!

Taken from Word For Today at www.ucb.co.uk