No one is too low for you.
I was reading the book of Matthew the other day, and came across the parable of the Sheep and the Goats. I thought it was such a neat parable and how it made such a great point.
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.’
Then Jesus talks about the goats he puts on his left hand side. (Bummer)
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.”
When I read this I just think "Wow". I mean really, what an amazing way God thinks. He really does count every single one of us as his own and counts us as a part of him. When it comes time to separate us... I'd much rather be the goofy looking sheep than the sad looking goat. How about you? The way Jesus describes it as himself being the one cared for when we care for others is just flat out... awesome. When ever we help someone in need, sacrifice for someone else, or anything like that we're doing it for Jesus. Or atleast that's how He sees it. I like this. More thoughts to come.
Cool verses! What can be quite unsettling is both the sheep and the goats mingling together were looking to their sheperd. Only those whose faith was put into action were recognized as worthy of "the inheritance" as neither realized their opportunity to serve the sheperd. Oh Lord help me to see as you see and act on what you reveal. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteJim
That is an unsettling thought. Thanks for the thoughts on the text. I like hearing what someone else thinks on verses I read. Of course.
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