Usually we only focus on the "whatever you have done to the least of these, you have done to me." portion- which is fine. But let us read the WHOLE parable shall we.
Matthew 25:31-46
New International Version (NIV)
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For 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, 36 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.’37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Ok so my first thoughts- "whatever you did for ONE of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me". I would like to challenge you to think what you have done for the least of these. "What you have done" includes clothing, feeding and giving water, but it ALSO includes ignoring. Have you IGNORED one of the least of these? Have you said, but that's not my calling? My calling is not to love on the unloved. My calling is not to care for the least of these, but instead for raising money for a building fund. I am challenged with this daily in my own life. I have brought into my home one that the world had considered "the least of these"- and when I speak harshly to him- I am doing that unto the Lord. When I lose my temper on him- I am doing that unto the Lord. I know- it sucks to think about it, but I've never been one who doesn't speak the truth. I tend to lay it all out there- and here I am doing again.
A second thought- isn't this a command and NOT a suggestion? Is not God telling us we are to do this- EACH, and EVERY one us who calls ourselves followers of Christ? It's not an "if you want to", in fact, if you read the scripture closely you will see that this action separates the TRUE believers from those who are not true believers. Dude, I did not write that- it's in the Word- you can read it yourself right up there- so if you're now offended- well.... scripture also says the Word offends. 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
I don't know about you, but I don't tend to hear that second part of the scripture talked about much. The "Truly I tell you, whatever you DID NOT do for one of the least of these, you DID NOT do for me." Why is that? Probably because it's not rainbows and sunshine- it's challenging and hard hitting. It speaks VOLUMES to our heart's state and our love for the Lord on what we do and do not do.
One more thing to ponder before you leave....
"Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows what we know, and holds us responsible to act." Prov. 24:12
I pray you ponder on these thoughts and that God would reveal to you your place in caring for the least of these.
Here is a quote from "The Lorax" which I just LOVED!!!
"Let it grow, Let it grow, you can not reap what you don't sow."
No comments:
Post a Comment