An All-the-Time Compassion

Compassion in Times of Work
Leviticus 25:1-55

"The land really belongs to me, so you can't sell it for all the time." (Leviticus 25:23)

This is a time to focus on compassion... the compassion Jesus showed to a world full of sinner who desperately needed the gift of his sacrifice as well as this similar compassion and love that we are to show to the whole world.

This passage... all the rules about Jubilee remind me of a book I started reading over break Rich Christians in a World of Hunger which presents some different ideas about a present-day jubilee... which I believe our world desperately needs. The old Jubilee rules won't apply to our un-agrarian culture, but our world desperately cries out for a time of equalizing all of the economic inequalities that seem to mount one on top of each other.

Jubilee International is a program that works for forgiveness of debt to the poorest nations of the world. Our brothers and sisters are buried in debt... trying desperately to work that off without the ability to pour money into programs that would benefit their own nations.

While I'm no economist, on a small scale I can try to instate a jubilee... giving where I see a need and constantly recognizing that all that I have is not mine... (that's why I like this verse so much). Honestly, all that I have been given, especially the best things (a promise of eternal life), have been given to me out of the compassion of my Lord. I only have to share that compassion, to share that message and all I have with everyone.

Compassion in Times of Trouble
Psalm 28:6-9

"Praise the Lord, because he heard my prayer for help. The Lord is my strength and shield." (Psalm 28:6)

What a blessing... a Lord who hears me in my times of trouble... in my requests for help. He must get so tired of it. "There's that Katie again... crying out for something else. What is it this time?" But no, every time that I need Him- when I am suffering, when I am confused, when I am saddened, when I am exhausted, when I feel lost, God is there. And God's help comes most powerfully in His forgiveness of my sins. God has taken away my shame. That sin came at a great cost... the price of death on that cross. But that is what shows Jesus' amazing compassion... that He would love us so much to face that... and to be continually compassionate... whenever I turn to Him in prayer.

Compassion in Times of Exhaustion
Mark 6:30-56

"He said to them, 'Come away by yourselves, and we will go to a lonely place to get some rest.' So they went in a boat by themselves to a lonely place. But many people saw them leave and recognized them. So from all the towns they ran to the place where Jesus was going, and they got there before him. When he arrived, he saw a great crowd waiting. He felt sorry for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things." (Mark 6:31-34)

To me, this also demonstrates Jesus' amazing compassionate character. Just imagine. He and his disciples had decided to go off on their own... to a "lonely place." They needed to get away from the crowd, but the crowd followed them. Jesus didn't storm off or turn the boat around or go run off to someplace quiet. No, "he felt sorry for them." Lord, I pray that I may have such compassion... when I am tired, I know that You will give me the strength to do Your work, to be like a shepherd to the sheep who need me in whatever capacity that may be. Show me how to be a light of Your amazing compassion in the world.