The story going around this week is a small one and a good one. A seven-year-old in Rhode Island was eating snack with his class when one of the other kids started choking on an apple slice. He had learned the Heimlich maneuver the year before in a kindergarten health lesson. He remembered it. He used it. The piece came loose. His friend got to go home from school that day.
NewsNation: 7-year-old saves classmate’s life with the Heimlich maneuver
“Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Luke 10:36-37 (ESV)
Father, thank you for the news being good today.
Thank you for a child who paid attention. Thank you for the teacher who taught the lesson. Thank you for the small hands that did not freeze. Thank you for a friend who got to go home that day.
We pray for kids sitting at lunch tables right now. Let them grow up to be the ones who notice. Let them be the ones who act.
And Lord, work on us too. We hear a lot of words in a week. Let them stick. When somebody around us is in trouble, give us quick hands and a steady heart.
Jesus, you told us to go and do likewise. Help us go.
In Jesus’ name, amen.