Missed the Mark

I was on my way somewhere and running late when I passed him there on the side of the road.  He was sitting in the knee deep weeds.  The parable of the Good Samaritan flitted across my mind so I pulled over, turned around, and went back to ask if he needed help.  It was already getting hot, he had walked a couple of miles on his way to town, and was dizzy is what he said to me through the open window.  So, I told him to get in and I drove him into town.    

But, before the applause gets too loud, there is a confession which needs to be made.  It was not love which turned me around to be his helper, but guilt.  Of course, what motivated me was not a real concern to the worn out guy sitting in the weeds, but it was something for me to consider.  It was a Sunday, I thought about the parable, and not wanting to be like those guys who passed by the man on the side of the road, I turned around.  If why we do things is more important than what we do, then I failed the Sunday morning test.    

It seems like there is a verse of Scripture which might have some bearing on my morning act of kindness.  "If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but I do not have love, I gain nothing."  (I Corinthians 13:3)   I did the good thing, but what I know is that I did it for the wrong reason.  And, so while the guy on the side of the road counted it as good, I am not sure how it registered in the acounting book which really mattered.  I might have gotten an "Atta boy" from some reader, but I am not sure I got a "Well done, good and faithful servant"  (Matthew 25:23) from the One who really counted.