National Good Samaritan Day—observed on March 13—is a day for unselfish actions to help those in need and to celebrate kindness.
The term “Good Samaritan” comes from Luke 10 in the Bible, where Jesus Christ shares a parable of the Samaritan, who helped a stranger who had been robbed and beaten and left to die by the side of the road. This was a shocking twist for the Jewish audience, who would have expected the Priest or Levite to render aid. However, they were too busy. The Samaritan, who was considered impure from the Jewish perspective, not only cleaned the man’s wounds and clothed him, but took him to an inn where he paid for the man’s care.
The “Good Samaritan” term is used today to describe those who perform acts of kindness for those in need, especially those who are strangers.
Pastor Reggie McNeal points out that the moral of the story is “you have to get off your donkey to help somebody.” In fact, he wrote a book with that focus, Get Off Your Donkey! Help Somebody and Help Yourself, as a call to action. Maybe you can’t change the world, but you can change your street.
The best strategy for experiencing the abundant life that Jesus talked about is through loving our neighbors. We all have to get off our donkeys. Nothing less than the fate of America, your community, your neighbor—even you—depends on it!
Click here for a summary of Reggie McNeal’s Get Off Your Donkey!