If we strive to be like Jesus and keep him in the heart of all we do, then we will always be on the righteous side.
Yesterday, my pastor preached a sermon on Matthew 25:31-46. It was about Judgement Day. Most of us don’t like to think about that day too much. It makes us nervous like a visit to the principal’s office, whether we did anything wrong or not. It’s kind of like when I’m driving down the road and I see a police car in my rear view mirror. I know I’m not speeding or doing anything against the law, yet still I panic a little.
Just the term, Judgement Day, makes us squirm a bit, or at least it does for me. This particular parable is the one where the King separates the sheep and the goats. The sheep are the righteous ones and he tells them, “For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.” Matthew 25: 35-36 The goats don’t fare so well.
I’ve read this parable many times before. But, what the pastor said next, really caught my attention. He said that the key word here comes in the next verses, and that word is, “when.” The righteous ones don’t even remember doing all of these things and why not? Are they suddenly struck with some type of dementia? Nope. Doing these things has become part of their character, part of who they are.
When we do good things for others as part of a check list, it doesn’t count. You know like, there’s a yearly can drive, I’ll give cans, check. It’s Christmas time and I really should contribute a toy to some needy child, check. Doing those things are good, of course. But, why do we do them? Do we do them because it’s a particular time of the year? Do we do them because we are supposed to?
The pastor went on to say that as we walk with Jesus, we become more like him. When we become more like him we just naturally do things like he would. We help others in need, whatever the need, physical or spiritual, just because that’s who we are, who we have become. Helping and loving others, becomes second nature to us, so much so, that if we were to be asked when we did things like feeding the hungry and tending the sick, we would ask when, because we do it all of the time.
What a concept. The whole point of accepting Jesus, is to become more like him. If we strive, daily to be more like him, then we will have nothing to fear. We are the righteous in the parable. But, I believe the key here is the heart. If we have a pure heart in our quest to serve others, a heart that has Jesus in it, then we will always be on the righteous side and I find that very comforting. How about you?
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂