Two Questions

“He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?'” Luke 10:26 NKJV

One of the most popular parables in the Bible is The Good Samaritan. Jesus uses this story to illustrate how we are to treat one another, i.e. loving our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31). He’s also defining the word “neighbor” for His audience.

While this is a very valuable parable and teaching, we must also pay attention to His initial response. This passage (Luke 10:25-37) opens with a lawyer testing Jesus (as they often did) by asking Him about the way to gain eternal life. Jesus asked him two simple questions: what is written in the Law? & what is your understanding of it? As we are to emulate Jesus in our lives, I think these two questions should always be in the forefront of our minds. In this day and age, we frequently wrestle with the various issues of life, and we spend countless amounts of time debating over them and/or being confused by them. We’d save a great deal of time by starting with asking ourselves those two questions. In their answers lies the wisdom of the Lord.

So next time you’re wondering about an issue in your life (e.g. should I watch this movie, should I apologize, is what I’m doing a sin, etc.), put W.W.J.D. in action and ask yourself:

What does the Word say? What is my understanding of it?