Helping a Brother

  

Sadu Sundar Singh was part of the Sikh religion, but he converted to Christianity. He told the story of the time he and his friend were traveling through a pass in the Himalayas and they came across an injured man laying in the snow. Singh knew they needed to do something to help this man, but his friend tried to talk him out of it, saying that helping the man would surely result in their own death. Singh was determined to help, so his friend abandoned him and went on ahead. 

Singh lifted the wounded man up and gave him a piggyback ride. Eventually Singh’s body heat warmed the injured man, giving him new life. Soon, instead of being carried, the two men were walking side by side, and then they came across someone laying facedown in the snow—Singh’s friend, who had eventually collapsed and froze to death.

Don’t miss the irony: Singh’s friend chose not to help someone in order to spare his own life, yet he lost it; Singh determined to help, and their shared body heat saved both lives. I believe helping someone is always the right thing to do, even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time. God used one His prophets, Obadiah, to issue a rebuke to the Edomites because they refused to help Israel in their time of need. He said, “For violence against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever (v.10).” 

He refers to Israel as “your brother Jacob” because the Edomites were the descendants of Jacob’s twin brother Esau (Esau’s nickname was Edom), and Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, making the Israelites his descendants. The Israelites and Edomites were brothers, but when Israel was in trouble, the Edomites stood by, and even rejoiced at Israel’s calamity. When the Babylonians invaded Israel, the Edomites looked on with joy, and even blocked the roads so that the survivors from Israel could not retreat to safety. God was not pleased with their refusal to help their brother.

The Edomites were the opposite of the Good Samaritan of Luke 10. When the religious men chose not to give aid to the wounded man, the Samaritan chose to act like a good neighbor. That is how the Lord wants us to live. In fact, Jesus used that story to illustrate the command to love our neighbor as ourselves, which is the second greatest commandment. 

Helping someone is never the wrong thing to do. I would rather be known as someone who goes out of my way to help than as someone who thinks of myself first. Being selfless saved Sadu Singh’s life, and refusing to help cost his friend his life.