WHAT ARE WE MISSING

I Was Just Thinking About – WHAT ARE WE MISSING?

What are we missing? Is it possible that the Biblical Church can miss the obvious and get caught up with other and lesser things? Can the Biblical Christian become so preoccupied with complicated details that the primary purpose for life and purpose is ignored and averted? Today’s Devotional – Insight for Living – asks the question: “Who Cares?” The illustration used is summarized: “Who really cared? His was a routine admission to busy Bellevue Hospital. A charity case, one among hundreds. A bum from the Bowery with a slashed throat. The Bowery - last stop before the morgue. Synonym of filth, loneliness, cheap booze, drugs, and disease. The Bowery became the dead-end street of an incredible life. On that icy January morning before the sun had crept over New York's skyline…a shell of a man who looked twice his age staggered to the wash basin and fell…He was found lying in a heap, naked and bleeding from a deep gash in his throat. His forehead was badly bruised and he was semiconscious.”

Who was this person? Did it really matter? Should one who had some measure of success be concerned for one who outwardly was the epitome of failure? “A friend seeking him was directed to the local morgue. There…he was identified. When they scraped together his belongings, they found a ragged, dirty coat with 38 cents in one pocket and a scrap of paper in the other. All his earthly goods. Enough coins for another night in the Bowery and five words: Dear friends and gentle hearts. Almost like the words of a song, someone thought. But who cared?”

In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10:25-37, Jesus tells of a man who became the victim of merciless thieves. They beat him severely and took all of his possessions. They left him in a heap – half dead. Those who might’ve been able to help ignored this victim. They crossed to the other side of the road to avoid even looking at him. No one cared except for the Good Samaritan who invested his own time and treasure to help one who was on the threshold of death.

We are reminded in James 2:14-17 to be a person who tangibly cares about and for others. The question raised is: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you tells him: Go in peace; stay warm and well fed, but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that? So too, faith by itself, if it is not complemented by action, is dead.”

Who was that man on the Bowery? “Once upon a time, long before his tragic death at age 38, he had written songs that literally made the whole world sing, such as: Oh! Susanna! Beautiful Dreamer; Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair; Old Folks at Home; My Old Kentucky Home; and 200 more that have become deeply rooted in our rich American heritage. Thanks to Stephen Foster, whom nobody knew. And for whom nobody cared.”

Prayerfully – consider these things with me.