It could be said, “What we see, is not always what matters.” Appearances can be deceiving and if the truth be laid bare about human tendencies, we are often fooled because of what we see. In a larger sense, we often gauge the person not by the reality of who they are but by their clothes, appearance, position or class.
Jesus tells a story about unveiling these tendencies, where we as human beings lose our way and are fooled by positions and appearances. Jesus shatters those external presentations as meaningless when the only thing that matters is, what someone truly is and what they do for or to others. It is out of what we are as people, flowing from the core of our heart and values that true actions follow. In the story of “The Good Samaritan” we see the utter useless value of positions in life, heritage and background, class and distinctions and a countless string of other categories typically used to place worth on the what is seen or known when all that matters is what we are as a person.
What matters, is whether we are true to who we say we are. What matters, is whether in any of our roles or positions that we are consistent in those roles with what is expected of those positions. It is out of what we are, that our actions will spring forth. We cannot claim to love God and not see as He sees, love as He loves or do as He does! We must like Him in being gracious, loving and involved in the lives of those who need God and thus need us, to be like Him. Our faith is in God and the actions that flow out of our faith, must be what matters in our life. What we are, matters! It matters to God and it will matter in the lives of those around us.
If a man say, “I love God,” and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? (1 John 4:20, KJ21)
Image, Falco, Pixabay, Public Domain
