When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why: I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me. Matthew 25:31-40
Jesus never was, and never will be interested in the grandiose religious things we sometimes fill our lives with. Rather He is concerned with the little things you and I do, the less glorious tasks, maybe the ones that gets our hands dirty. I am talking about mission work. Helping the underpriviligded or vulnerable, the hungry, thirsty, sick, imprisoned, or the mentally or physically disabled.
There are many ways we can help others. Jesus cared enough about the needs of the poor and vulnerable that he said when we help them it is the same as if we had done it for Christ Himself. We can participate in serving in many different ways from serving food to donating money to rolling up our sleeves and working on different projects like cleaning public parks or repairing houses or homeless shelters. If we look for ways to serve we will find them.
Jesus refers to the sheep on His right as being the ones who helped the people in need. The ones on His left, who did not help, He calls goats. The sheep are referring to Christians who sacrifice to help those who need help. He says they are blessed by His Father and can enter His kingdom and Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation.
There is no wrong answer. If you don’t have money to give, you can give time. You don’t have to be rich or give a lot of money to help. Time is valuable and time spent with another person who needs some encouragement – one on one – is valuable. Unfortunately sometimes the less fortunate are looked down on and passed by or dismissed. Hard times break hearts and crush souls. A little love and encouragement, along with a hot meal or a bag of groceries can make a difference in someon’s life.
I don’t know about you but I for sure want to be on the sheep side of the King and not with the goats. How many do you pass by or overlook? How many times could you sacrifice a little bit of time to reach out and serve? Jesus was passionate about it and wants us to be too. How can you serve out this in your life? Make room today –Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.
