Convenience or Compassion

Our world is definitely one of convenience, drive through windows, convenience stores, instant drinks and foods, automatic everything - we want things to be convenient for us. As Christian's we can not afford to live a life of convenience, we have to follow Christ, and his was not a life of convenience.

Take for instance when Jesus learned that John the Baptist had been killed in Matthew 14. Jesus sought solitude (Verse 13). But he was followed by a multitude of people. It would have been easy for him to snap and say "Look, I am grieving, leave me alone. I need my space. Let me mourn in private." But in verse 14 we see that even though what He wanted was to be alone, and that He had other things on His mind, he allowed himself to be inconvenienced. When the people came to him. He had compassion and he healed them.

The disciples (verse 15) had a different take on the scene. They wanted Jesus to send the people away because there was no food. They felt it was inconvenient for the people to be there. As Christians we have allowed ourselves to respond as the disciples, we don't want to be inconvenienced by the problems of the multitudes. We want to fit it into our schedules, and preferably on Sunday morning after ten and before noon. We want the multitude to come to us.

The multitude didn't follow Christ to a church. They followed HIM - because he met their needs. He met them right where they were, right when they came to him. He was compassionate. We have to step out of what is convenient and begin to show people the compassion of Christ. We have to go to them. We have to meet them right where they are. We have to be ready to do what we can to help them right there and right then.

And when we can't meet the need, we have to follow the example laid before us. The disciples didn't think they could meet the need of the multitude. So they gave what they could to Christ. He took what they had. He blessed it. He gave it back to them and it multiplied. (verses 14 - 20)We must take what we have to offer (The one thing we all have - our life and everything we have and can do) and give it to Jesus. He will bless what we give (He always does when we give with the right attitude) and He will multiply it to meet the need. We just have to have the compassion for others to want to, instead of the convenience of selfishness.