Compassion Needed

I was going through my reading for today, and these words from Matthew 9 jumped off the page at me.

35And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

Jesus walked all over the place in Israel.
Everywhere he went he saw the needs of the people.
He taught them. He healed them. He proclaimed the good news of God.

And he didn't get mad, impatient, frustrated, etc with them. He got angry with their sin, but mostly he was just there, meeting the needs that they had. He was compassionate.

I read that and thought....wow.... that is such a contrast to myself.

Compassion is often not my first response when faced with the needs of others. Particularly if I see the same thing, over and over and over again. I tend to think... STOP IT! Do it differently folks! I do have compassion, don't get me wrong. I have compassion for individuals that I meet who have a need that I can do something about. But for the masses of people that I meet on a daily basis, most of who do not know Christ, I don't have that generic compassion for them.

I think if I did I would be more pressed to introduce them to Christ as every available opportunity. I read these verses and I think ..... I have got to be able to do more. Where is my starting motivation? I read these verses and I think...ah...that's what I need. I need to pray that God increases my compassion for the folks of people I meet every single day of my life. And then that I can build upon that compassion to show Christ to them. HE is the one who can meet their needs best, all I have to do is introduce them.