Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Corinthians 13-14

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 15:32
Jesus (to His disciples): We must take pity on these people for they have touched My heart; they have been with Me for three days, and they don’t have any food. I don’t want to send them home this hungry—they might collapse on the way!

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Here we are on the mountainside once more. Jesus is doing His thing. He makes the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear, the mute speak. Everyone who comes to him for healing is healed. People come from everywhere to receive a touch from the Master. And a lot of them stick around just to be in His presence. Thousands have gathered on that remote hillside above the Sea of Galilee to watch His compassionate hand and hear His teaching.

Jesus turns to His disciples. I love these words. “We must take pity on these people for they have touched My heart…”

I’m about to say something that will probably make a few of you really upset, but that’s okay. Here goes. Do you remember how we were bombarded with Humane Society commercials around Christmas? The videos showed poor little abused puppies and sitting in cages waiting for some gentle soul to take pity on them and take them home. Every dog they chose for their video had the saddest looking face. And in the background you could hear “Amazing Grace” softly playing.

Wait a minute! Animals only have one expression. I watch my dogs. They jump up and lick my face and spin around excitedly when I come home or play with them, but their expression never changes. It’s always the same. They don’t get droopy eyes or sad faces. They just have faces. They know when I scold them for doing something wrong. They know when I praise them for doing something good. But their expressions are always the same. And “Amazing Grace” in the background? These guys are obviously trying to pull at our heartstrings! And they do. That annual campaign provides most of the money to operate their organization every year because it works.

Unfortunately, we don’t get as excited about the people in Cameroon facing genocide. Or the ongoing battles in Uganda. Or the fight that keeps killing thousands in the Sudan. Or the kids still dying of hunger in the Congo and Ethiopia. Or the thousands of young girls being sold into the sex slave market from Central and South America, Asia, and India. We don’t hear much about the plight of the thousands of homeless in our own country. We see them, but we don’t. They stand on our street corners with signs that say something like “Please, help” or “God bless you” or “Anything will help”. We assume it’s their own fault for being there in the first place. Or we hear about the number of panhandlers that make a sizable, tax-free living that way and so we just ignore the problem in our cities.

We see the hurting around our world, but what do we do? I know we can’t feed everyone. I know we can’t take in everyone. I know some of those on the streets will just continue to live that way no matter how much you try to do for them. I know there are evil men and women that will continue to take advantage of our young boys and girls as long as there are other men and women willing to pay for their services. But can’t we have at least as much pity on them as we do for those puppies in the cages we see in videos at Christmas?

Have we become so callous that we no longer see the people around us that are desperately in need of our help and the cleansing that Jesus can bring into their lives? Jesus looked at the crowd scattered across that hillside that came seeking relief from the various maladies in their lives. They had been with Him for three days. They went without food and water just to be near Him. If you have never fasted for three days, try it some time. They were hungry and thirsty. He looked across that sea of people and they touched His heart.

I’m glad God doesn’t act the way we do most of the time. I’m glad He isn’t callous to the needs of the people on the street corner or the invalid whose kids just quit visiting all together. I’m glad He’s not insensitive to the needs of the masses or even to the single individual. No, He reaches out to each person. He wants every single person He created to know His saving grace. He wants all of us to come to Him and enjoy eternity with Him.

Will all of us choose Him? Unfortunately, no. But, like Jesus, we can have His heart if He lives in us. We can begin to see people the way He sees people. We can let them touch our heart and do what we can to share the resurrection power of Jesus in us with those He lets us touch. We can introduce those who have not met Him to the One who can make all the difference in their life. Because Jesus had pity on us and took us into His care, we can do the same for others and demonstrate God’s love, grace, and mercy in a world that needs it desperately.

So which touches your heart more, the video of the puppies at Christmas or the beggar on the corner? Is it time to calibrate your heart’s desire?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
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