GOOD DEVOTION

I received this devotion today from Jennifer Rothschild. She is a popular speaker. She is also blind. I love that verse in John she refers to about the seed. We have to die in order to produce. Hope you enjoy!

From Jennifer: Who are You in this Story?

I've heard the "Good Samaritan story hundreds of times. I've been familiar with the beloved parable for over 40 years, and most times I hear it, I ask, "Who am I in this story?" Am I the Priest, the Levite or the Samaritan?" Of course, the goal is to be the Samaritan. He was the one who crossed the bridge of prejudice, expended his time and money and risked his safety and comfort to help someone who was left for dead. Throughout my childhood and early teen years, my goal was to be the Samaritan because people are broken and needy, and I must help them.Snob or Samaritan?During adulthood, I became more aware that I didn't want to be one of the religious snobs who looked the other way, ignoring the dying man lying on the side of the road. I wanted no part of their spiritual elitism. So I've continued to ask myself, "Am I the Samaritan in the story, or am I the Priest or Levite?"Read the story in Luke 10:25-37 again and ask yourself, "Who am I in this story?" I did that recently and I felt the deep awareness of who I really was in the parable. I was not the Levite, the Priest or the Samaritan.The Fourth Man For the first time, I realized I was the fourth man in the story. I was, and am, the man beaten and left for dead. I had never even considered that I might be him in all my years of hearing the story. At first blush, identifying with the broken, needy man in the story doesn't seem to make me spiritually elite, does it? But never recognizing that I was that man showed that deep down I was just like the Priest and Levite--spiritually elite. I've always been that man, but my own pride hid my true identity.Shipwrecked on GodI've falsely assumed and hoped that God needs me more than I need Him. He needs me to fix the broken and help the needy. I never saw myself as the one who was broken and needy who needs God, needs healing and needs help. But, oh the freedom of brokenness! Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." (Jn. 12:24)To truly bear spiritual fruit, you must be broken and recognize you need God far more than He needs you. When you and I realize our total dependence upon Him and our condition without Him, then we are ready to give out of our own emptiness and serve out of the abundance of what we have received, not achieved.Perhaps we could all benefit from experiencing what Vance Havner meant by being "Shipwrecked on God, stranded on omnipotence." So ask yourself today, "Who am I in this story?"