Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Helping Others
Matthew 12:11-13
Mereen Mammen  
Carmel MTC, Boston
11 He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 
The book of Matthew talks to us about the great parables of Jesus. The Gospel according to Matthew presents our Savior to us in the form of many teachings through examples and life lessons. This particular verse in Chapter 12 describes the Pharisees questioning Jesus with the wrong intentions. This was a day of the Sabbath, where the traditional practice was to honor it as a day of rest.  This also meant that no healing would be done on that day. In verse 10, the Pharisees questioned Jesus whether the Law would allow it to heal someone on the Sabbath. Jesus replied by explaining how much a life is worth, and the Sabbath should not be against helping others.
We can extend this situation to our own lives. The Sabbath – day of rest – is when we get a chance to refresh ourselves.  Life throws all sorts of challenges towards us, sometimes these challenges are not really linked to our own paths, but of the people around us.  Most of the times, we are asked to help face these challenges at an inconvenient time for us – like the day of the Sabbath. When we are surrounded with people’s problems, we have a choice to help those around us, or to look the other way.  Jesus shows us to value every human life, and give our time and effort where we can. Even if it is something as simple as a prayer for those in need.

PRAYER

Dearest Father, We are grateful for the life You have given us. We pray for those souls, who need You more than we do, we pray that You enable us to help them in the ways we can. We believe in Your Will and Power to make this world a better place to live in.  Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
‘Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you.’ – Mother Teresa. 

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