READING: Exodus 37-38, Matthew 25:14-46
In the judgment on the sheep and the goats in today’s reading, the comparison/contrast of the two groups is stark. On one hand, both groups lived in a world where needy people were. Hungry people. Thirsty people. Strangers. Naked people Sick people. Prisoners. You get the sense the needs were right in front of either group.
On the other hand, though, how they responded to the needs is quite different. The goats, it seems, didn’t even see the people around them; or, if they did, they simply ignored them. They apparently lived for themselves without regard for the “least of these” among them. In so living, they revealed hearts that were hardly in tune with the heart of Christ. Eternal judgment awaited them.
The sheep, though, ministered to the least among them – but apparently did so so naturally as followers of Christ they didn’t even think about doing it. They simply followed Christ, and taking care of hurting people is just His heart. Theirs was no religious show or an attempt to gain God’s favor; it was instead the natural (supernatural, actually) by-product of God’s changing hearts and turning them toward others.
The question for me today is: do I ever ignore the hurting people around me? Do I see them but walk past them? Or, do I minister to them knowing they are created in the image of God? That is, in this hurting world, am I most like sheep or like goats?
PRAYER: “God, I am Your child. Help me to live like that today, especially in ministering to hurting people around me.”
DAILY ACTION STEP: Be ever sensitive to needs around you today. Don’t walk past hurting people.
TOMORROW’S READING: Exodus 39-40, Matthew 26:1-25