Move With Compassion

How does your heart react to someone sitting alone, away from the crowd, possibly feeling completely left out of life? Honestly, such a sight gives my heart a jolt! The Apostle Paul reminds God's children how they are are to be clothed: "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience" (Colossians 3:12 ESV). One of my favorite descriptions of Jesus is found in Matthew 14:14; when Jesus saw the crowd "He had compassion on them." Several [literal] translations read He was "moved with compassion" - I like that translation. Jesus is the model of how compassion should move us into action! He first had compassion the people then that compassion proved itself genuine as He was moved to heal the sick among them. Barbara Johnson wrote "God Always Needs More Pipe - Think of a gardener irrigating his garden. He is able to channel life-giving water to all areas except to one little dying plant way over in the corner. The gardener knows that if he had just one more piece of pipe he could run it over to that wilting plant and transform it with new life. So it is with the Mater Gardener. Because He chooses to minister through us, He needs many lengths of pipe to bless persons here, there, and all around." (from Splashes of Joy in the Cesspools of Life). I'm fairly certain you and I both someone who may be wilting for lack of the Life-Giving love of Jesus; I'm equally confident you and I can be that one more piece of pipe. Be moved with compassion.