5 Minutes with Jesus is a daily devotional series for people in the midst of real life, whether facing anxiety, grief, questions of purpose, or simply needing encouragement and connection. Hosted by Sheila Walsh, each five-minute episode offers Biblical truth, honest reflections on faith and emotions, and closes with a moment of prayer.
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| Sheila Walsh: Loving When It's Inconvenient | 5 Minutes with Jesus | May 5, 2026
- I think what jesus is saying
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- To his story is that religious service
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- Doesn't mean that thing
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- Hasn't moved our hearts with compassion.
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- We can be very involved in our churches,
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- But if we don't see people when they're hurting,
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- Then we've missed god's heart.
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- None of us likes to get interrupted,
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- Particularly if we're on our way to do something else.
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- I remember one night i was hurrying
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- To get to my gate at an airport, and an elderly woman
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- Touched me on my arm and asked me if i could help her.
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- My first thought, honestly, was to say i said
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- I'm sorry, but i need to be somewhere.
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- But there's a story
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- That jesus told recorded for us in luke's gospel
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- That changed my mind that night and continues to.
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- I'm sure you're familiar with the story
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- That we refer to as the story of the good samaritan.
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- Jesus tells it in response to someone who was trying to
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- Trip him up.
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- In luke ten, we read one day an expert in religious law stood
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- Up to test jesus by asking him this question teacher,
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- What should i do to inherit eternal life?
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- Jesus replied, what is the law of moses say?
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- How do you read it?
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- The man answered, you must love the lord
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- Your god with all your heart, like your soul,
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- All your strength, and all your mind,
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- And love your neighbor as yourself, right?
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- Jesus told him, do this and you will live.
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- The man wanted to justify his actions,
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- So he asked jesus, and who is my neighbor?
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- Let's get the story a little context
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- And see what people who heard it that day would be picturing.
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- In luke chapter ten, verse 30, we read christ's response
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- To the question of who is my neighbor?
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- He said this a jewish man was traveling
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- From jerusalem to jericho, and he was attacked by bandits.
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- They stripped him of his clothes,
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- Beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
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- And william barkley's commentary on luke's gospel.
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- He writes the road from jerusalem to jericho
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- Was a notoriously dangerous road.
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- Jerusalem is 20 300ft above sea level.
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- The dead sea, which is near her jericho stood, is 1300 feet
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- Below sea level.
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- So in less than 20 miles the road dropped 30 600ft.
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- He goes on to write in that in the fifth century,
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- Jerome tells us that it was still called the red
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- Or bloody way.
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- Even i discovered in the 20th century,
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- Travel writers would tell people to avoid that road
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- After dark, as it simply wasn't safe.
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- So in jesus story, there's four main characters
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- The traveler himself, the priest, the levite,
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- And the one that we refer to as the good samaritan.
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- What is jesus teaching you and me in this story?
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- Well, the traveler himself was not smart.
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- In those days, people who needed to take
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- That road went as a group, not an individual.
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- Then you have the priest who didn't go near the man.
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- He probably assumed he was dead and if he touched a dead man,
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- He himself would be unclean for seven days.
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- Unable to take his turn in the temple.
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- So for him, his job meant more to him
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- Than someone who was suffering.
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- The levite, that's someone who was an assistant in
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- The temple, got a bit closer, but then he too walked on.
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- Next came the samaritan.
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- Those listening to the story that day would immediately,
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- In their minds, cast him as the villain.
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- Samaritans were despised, but jesus paints a fresh picture.
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- We read four things about him.
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- Number one,
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- We read that the samaritan was deeply moved with compassion.
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- He saw the hurt and his heart was moved.
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- Number two,
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- He did all he could to take care of the man's wounds.
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- He took what he had and he used it.
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- Number three
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- Read that he put this wounded man on his own donkey.
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- I'm assuming he had to walk.
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- Number four.
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- He took him to a local hotel, stayed with the men that night,
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- And paid for his room, promising to pay more if it was needed.
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- So jesus asked the man who was trying to trip him up,
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- Which of these men was a neighbor?
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- He responded that it was obviously the one who showed
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- Mercy.
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- Jesus said to him, then go and do the same.
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- I think what jesus is saying
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- To his story is that religious service
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- Doesn't mean that thing
- 00:04:34.297 --> 00:04:35.932
- Hasn't moved our hearts with compassion.
- 00:04:35.932 --> 00:04:38.301
- We can be very involved in our churches,
- 00:04:38.301 --> 00:04:40.770
- But if we don't see people when they're hurting,
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- Then we've missed god's heart.
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- Let's pray.
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- What i want to thank you for that story.
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- It speaks volumes to me about how easy it is
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- To miss seeing people,
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- Because we're on our way to do something
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- That we think is important.
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- Thank you
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- That you included the story to help us see what matters to you.
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- As our hearts are moved with compassion.
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- Let our hearts be moved today in jesus name.
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- Amen.
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