February 15, 2024

There are good people in the world. Good people see a need and try to help. They take the woman who ran out of gas to the nearest gas station and help her secure a can of gas. They stop and help the old woman whose bag of groceries burst and spilled on the ground. Good people let the trapped car in when everyone else inches up to keep them out. Good people are the oil of grace in a harsh world. They just make the world a little better place to live.
Then there are the Exceptional Servants of God. These are the people like the Samaritan in our story. He didn’t just help; he went above and beyond. He not only bandaged the man’s wounds; he took him somewhere to heal. He not only took him somewhere to heal; he paid for his room. He not only paid for his room; he paid for an extended stay and told the innkeeper he’d come back to cover any additional expenses. That’s not just doing something “good.” That’s doing something exceptional.
Good people make you smile and nod. Exceptional people make you shake your head in disbelief. Good people leave you with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Exceptional people leave you feeling incredibly humbled and honored. Good people make you want to be nice to someone else. Exceptional people make you want to do something extraordinary. If the Samaritan would have just done a fraction of what he did to help the man, others would have said, “What a nice guy.” But instead, he left those who observed speechless.
So, go seek to be a good person this week. Be the kind helper, the nice neighbor, the person who makes this world a better place to live. But if God so prompts you, take it to another level. Do something so extraordinary that you leave people shaking their heads and wondering what kind of person goes above and beyond like that. Then you can smile because you know—the Exceptional Servant of God. That’s God’s Word for you today.