Our scripture this week is Matthew 25:31-46, taken today from the New King James Version (NKJV).
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
God has expectations of all of us. He expects us to treat each other with His love because we have been saved by His love. This applies to everyone, everywhere, forever. It is our response to His grace.
Seeing each other as the image of God is the only way for us to live together as His children. When we share our gifts and resources with those who need them, it is as if we care for God Himself. We know that God needs nothing from us, for He created it, but when we reach out in love to each other, we show our love for Him.
Often we think that this means large actions, great expenditure or difficult tasks, and sometimes it does. However, we can also show our love for God in simple, everyday actions. If we don’t practice these, we may never be ready for great acts of sharing.
Gracious God, help us to see the common things we are called to accomplish in Your name. Show us the ways we can share Your love in everything we do. Amen.