Baa vs. Bleat

 

Recently my learning thoughts have been centering on some of Jesus’ words in Matthew 25. Jesus was teaching His Disciples some important lessons that day. Lessons about the end of the age, about what will and must happen before Jesus will come back. Lessons about our duty as followers in preparation for that day. Then He explains what will happen at His return. This is what really gets me:

Jesus tells them, I’m coming back and when I come in all my glory ALL the nations will be gathered before me. I’m going to separate the people, each one will belong either with the sheep or with the goats. To the sheep Jesus will invite to enjoy the blessings prepared for them BECAUSE: “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”  The confused “sheep” will say, “huh? When did we do that?”  Jesus responds, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Then the opposite happens for the “goats”. Jesus says, you are cursed and will endure eternal punishment. BECAUSE, when you saw me hungry, thirsty, a stranger, without clothes, sick or in prison, you did nothing! The confused goats say, “what the heck, we never saw you!”  Jesus tweaks his response a bit to: “I tell you the truth whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” [emphasis mine]

Now, I don’t know about you, but I think what Jesus was trying to do for us was paint a picture of what it looks like to Love God & Love people (the two greatest commandments according to Jesus in Mark 12:29-31). If we truly chose to love people the way Jesus described here, don’t you think people would listen when we talked about our faith? Now, earlier in the beginning of this day of teaching His Disciples Jesus also says, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14  So, obviously God wants us to preach the Word too. But, if we preach it and don’t follow it with our actions are we any better than the Pharisees? I know this isn’t a new topic, but it’s been resonating in my mind differently lately.

When Jesus comes back He’s not going to say, well you prayed the sinners prayer & preached the Gospel message to people, so you can come to heaven. He’s not going to say, well you told others I was the way to heaven, so you can enjoy the home I’ve prepared.

Nope, Jesus directly revealed to us what will separate His followers from the rest. The followers who truly loved others, who served others, who gave of themselves to meet the needs of “the least of these” they’re the ones who get to enjoy the place Jesus personally prepares for His followers.

Matthew 7:20-23 says, “Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

Okay, so this might seem a bit harsh, but God is just. He sent His Son to demonstrate and teach & gave us the Bible to guide generations to come. If we have truly confessed with our mouth and believed in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead so that we might be saved and believe that our justification comes through the grace of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, if we TRULY BELIEVE, will our actions not reflect that? (Romans 10:9)

If the Holy Spirit is alive and well within us, our desire WILL be to love our neighbors as ourselves and care for the needs of the people God has fearfully & wonderfully created. The question I’m asking myself now is: What does Jesus think of how I focus my time and energy? Does my daily life reflect the heart of God for the Least of These?