2 Corinthians 9

V. 1-5, Eagerness to help

In the opening scriptures of this chapter, Paul points out that he knows the church of Corinth has an eagerness to help those in need. I truly wonder if our modern church has lost its eagerness to help those in need. Our church has become numb to the needs of those around us so much so that in most cases we turn a blind eye to those who need help. We no longer read the signs that the beggars on the side of the street are holding because we just assume that it is a scam. We don’t feel sorry for the family down the street getting ready to lose their home because everyone has known for years they have been living above their means, we are surprised it took this long for life to catch up to them. The homeless people living under the bridge are probably there because they are addicted to drugs and are only get what they deserve. Have we become numb to the pain and suffer of the world around us?

Luke chapter 10 tells the story of the good Samaritan. If you read this story you will see that the religious people of Jesus’s time weren’t eager to help someone who had fallen upon hard times. In fact, they kept their distance and just kept on walking by. The person who was eager to help was the Samaritan, someone that the Jews looked at as almost less than human. The Samaritan went out of his way to spend his time and money on helping the man who was in trouble. He bandaged and cleaned his wounds, payed someone to care for him, and even made a point to say that he would come back and pay more if he needed to. This is the definition of being eager to help. He went out of his way and inconvenienced himself to help a stranger. We question if we may be going to far when we drop a 20 in the offering plate, we need to get to the place of where our hearts are eager to help those in need around us. We must once again show the world the unadulterated love of Jesus Christ.