It’s 10:00 at night her time. Just finishing my lunch, I wonder if she’s safely asleep or if she’s still working. Time zones away from each other, we are worlds apart. I don’t even know her name. Probably, neither do the men who seek her out. She’s just a little girl—used again and again for the price of shelter and food.
Each day new faces enter the sex trade; many have yet to reach puberty. We pause when we see their plight on commercials or YouTube. Moved for a moment, the feeling leaves with the fading image.
We stay busy, so we won’t see, so we won’t feel. Helplessness breeds inaction. Sadly, we fail to realize that being a people of compassion begins with feeling (Luke 10:36-37).
Each day, the rich man ate his fill in the comfort of his home while Lazarus withered outside his gate. Unwilling to be inconvenienced by Lazarus’ pain, the man lived unconcerned. Not until the rich man experienced suffering did he finally see Lazarus. The problem for the rich man was not that he didn’t have the opportunity. The problem was his vision and his heart.
Perpetually self-centered, Jesus’ disciples responded to the needs of others much like we do. Faced with feeding the multitude, they asked, “How are we supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?” (Mark 8:4). Jesus teaches us, however, that the how comes when we’re filled with compassion (vv.2-3).
Real compassion, which is not comfortable or convenient, means acting from a place of shared suffering and requires seeing beyond our own needs.
No plane ticket is needed to make a difference. Our culture of self-gratification is fertile ground for injustice. Jesus asks us to begin with those in front of us. Look for the one in need sitting at your “gate.”
More:
• Ecclesiastes 4:1-4
• Micah 6:8
• 1 John 3:16-18
Next:
Who is sitting at your gate? What keeps you from responding with compassion to those around you?
ufooulotu on March 30, 2009 at 6:24 am
This is not the first time that I am reading this passage in the bible, but today’s discussion is in excellent synchrony with our contemporary living habits. We are so different in terms of haves and have nots, and so indifferent to the destitution of the have nots. What we earn makes a living; what we give makes a life! As the passage says, the how comes when we’re filled with compassion (Mark 8:2-3).
ufooulotu on March 30, 2009 at 6:34 am
Hello dear Regina, I thank the Lord for this important reminder. God bless you abundantly!
ciqua on March 30, 2009 at 9:32 am
Hi Regina!
God bless you for writing this. It struck a chord with me.
In Christ
marvin williams on March 30, 2009 at 11:05 am
Regina, thanks for this devotional. It is a convicting yet powerful reminder of our responsibility to see the marginalized in our orbit and beyond. There are times when I am too busy to see and too comfortable to care. Thanks for allowing the Holy Spirit to use your voice to prod us all away from the pastures of comfortable Christianity. Grace and Peace!
abalderama on March 30, 2009 at 11:22 am
What you have written is so real. I am scheduled to attend training to volunteer at a facility that outreaches to young teens on the street. The majority of the young women are prostitutes. As we sit at one of the major ports in the world, sex trade is alive and well. Children are forced into this type of life not only from the trade but also from foster homes and so many other existences. My focus is to touch one spirit in the Lord’s name. During my tour of the facility, one of the gentleman pointed out that they are not always willing to listen to anything concerning God, as the very people that swore to care for them also swore their allegiance to God and are the very individuals who abused them in more ways than one. Let us all pray for the lost sheep on our streets and also the inviduals using our Father’s name for gain.
regina franklin on March 31, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Praying with you. Only in being real will people see the hope of Christ in us.
ruby on March 30, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Hi Regina
What you said is true,it breaks my heart everytime I see children being abused,as small as they are they have a lot of stories to tell.God Bless you.
wonderwhylady on March 30, 2009 at 10:10 pm
I wonder if it is the Technology who create more source for human to fall. YouTube become a source where young ladies just sell themselves in order to gain short term benefits.I myself in technology professor. I feel Technology instead of helping mankind ,they start to bring in more ideas like pronography. Just like TV . If There is no TV , No internet NO youtube, there will be no demand and no resources.In this fallen world of us.But in here technology had been used for good use. Spreading of God words.I remember reading , a man who walked on sand of beaches and throw 1 starfish back to the sea, well , we may feel we had no time for someone in need.But one little starfish u saved , that starfish can bear generation to come. Let us start with our base .And may God help this wakyward nations of ours.