When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all of his angels, he will sit on his royal throne. The people of all nations will be brought before him, and he will separate them, as shepherds separate their sheep from their goats. Matthew 25:31-32 (CEV, my emphasis)
This Scripture is well known, I suspect, to anyone who has sat through more than 50 sermons in their life time. At some point, most of us have been admonished to remember that Jesus will come and He will judge us all. He does not say He will judge us on our accomplishments that are recognized by our world standards nor will He judge us by what we do that is recognized by our church standards. The ‘sheep’ and ‘goats’ in this Scripture passage are in fact both puzzled by what they are judged…what they did to the least, those who stand not on pedestals but on the side of the road, inside prisons, and live in places that none of us want to visit much less live. There is where I will find Jesus.
There is a church in my home town of Pensacola, FL. It is a small church. It is not in a ‘nice’ section of town. It has less than 50 members. Last week, they fed 500 people a pre-Thanksgiving feast…for free. Every morning they feed the homeless breakfast from 5:30 – 6:30 a.m.
“Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.†Matthew 25:40 (CEV)
Pleasing God is what most of us want to do. We ask God to show us how we can do that and we make it complicated by thinking it has to be ‘the right prayer’ or ‘the right program’. It has to be huge and flashy. It’s not. It’s about opening our eyes and ears to the opportunities that God puts in our paths to just obediently serve the least and do it so that it glorifies God – not ourselves!
“When you give to the poor, don’t let anyone know about it. Then your gift will be given in secret. Your Father knows what is done in secret, and he will reward you.â€
Matthew 6:3-4 (CEV)
Jesus says that those that I serve may come from any nation. Jesus has children in all nations. Jesus has children in need in all nations. Jesus will judge me…it is not for me to judge other children.
A man on the side of the road with a sign and I feel my eyes pulled to his situation. God may say to give him money. He may say to go buy him some food. He may say open an opportunity for the man to work and earn some money.
I hear of a ministry in a local prison. Will I come and offer a Bible study? Is this my comfort zone? What will I say? Am I willing to allow God’s Spirit to inspire me? It is about God speaking and God healing…I am just His messenger and servant.
God brings my attention to a newspaper article about this ministry that serves the poor. Is He calling me to volunteer? Is He calling me to pray? I mean a real commitment to remember this ministry and pray every day for the people serving and those being served.
No matter who I am and what limitations I may think I have…God has a way to use me if I am willing. It is about God touching my heart and showing me His compassion and love for His children. Oh, my Lord, use me that I may please you through loving and serving Your children.
I was looking for a devotional about sheep
and found the one you had on Monday Mornings. What an inspiration, I have passed it onto two pastors to use with their leaders. Even though we are all sheep, I felt that some of the shepherds needed to be reminded. thank you. God has certainly blessed you with a gift for sharing his word.