USE CURRENT LOCATION

Moved with compassion … He had compassion on them … His heart overflowed with compassion … (Matthew 9:35; Mark 1:41; Luke 7:13 – as a few examples)

Compassion was one of the primary descriptions of Jesus by those who walked with Him. Jesus was unlike other Rabbi’s who seemed to be primarily concerned with propriety, order and everything being appropriate. Whether it was a crippled person in need of healing, the woman at the well in need of acceptance, or the woman caught in adultery that needed forgiveness, Jesus was motivated by compassion.

I was thinking about compassion and expressing compassion the other day when I was looking up directions for a building in downtown Seattle on my phone. When I pulled up the map app, the option for the starting point for directions was “USE CURRENT LOCATION.” What a great description of how Jesus expects us to live out compassion. He wants us to start right at our CURRENT LOCATION.

He doesn’t expect us to change location spiritually or physically to show compassion. He expects us to show compassion from our CURRENT LOCATION. He wants us to show compassion right where we live, work and play. He doesn’t want us to get ‘more spiritual’ and then show compassion. He wants us to show compassion now. He doesn’t want us to move to another location and then start showing compassion. He doesn’t want us to take off on a ‘mission trip’ somewhere and start showing compassion. He doesn’t want us to give our money to someone else who can show compassion. He doesn’t want us to support the compassion of an organization. He wants compassion from us in our CURRENT LOCATION.

He wants us to look around and see the people in our CURRENT LOCATION who need compassion!

Who in your CURRENT LOCATION needs to be accepted just as they are? Who in your CURRENT LOCATION needs a friend? Who in your CURRENT LOCATION needs you to be praying for them? Who needs a helping hand? Who needs someone to lean on?

Don’t wait to start at some other place. Let the compassion of Jesus flow from you right now in your CURRENT LOCATION. There are people at your CURRENT LOCATION who need you to be the compassion of Jesus.