…but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem. When the disciples, James and John, saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.
(Luke 9:53-56)
Lord, how quick we are to seek vengeance on anyone who opposes us. The disciples could not have expected a warm welcome when traveling through Samaria, for there was bitter enmity between that region and Judea.
In today’s atmosphere of hatred and rivalry, we, too, need to be rebuked. I sometimes wish that I could journey to another village to escape all the rhetoric. Please help me to focus on the needs I see daily and offer whatever I can to fill them. Show me how I can serve my neighbors. Thy will be done.