Monday; January 25

One of the most chilling parts of the Bible is found in a parable of Jesus. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the story often called the Parable of the Sheep and Goats. Basically, the story revolves around a judgement where the King (also called the Son of Man) assesses the fate of humanity. To one group He promises the blessing of an inheritance from His Father; to the other, it is the curse of an eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. While this seems to make sense to me, it is the basis of the distinction that captures my attention. The thing that distinguishes the good from the bad is a willingness to help out those in need. After listing a variety of opportunities to reach out to people – such as feeding the hungry, welcoming strangers and visiting the sick or imprisoned – the Judge says that reward and punishment will be granted to those who help others in need. The haunting statement to me is, “The King will answer and stay to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’” (Matthew 25:40). By the way, the converse is echoed in Matthew 25:45 when He says the condemned did not do these things to “the least of these”. In other words, our eternal punishment and our eternal life are dependent on how we care for those in our community. No, it isn’t the only thing that will save or condemn us, but it is a consideration.
Are we reaching out to people in need? If not, we are missing out on an important aspect of our spiritual living. There is no way we can help everyone, but we need to be helping someone! As we go through our week, let’s look for someone who needs a little extra help and fill their need. Not only will they be happy, our Lord will be pleased.

Think About It!

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