“Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me.” … “Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? … “And the King will say…”When you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ Matt 25:34-40
Lord Jesus, there is something profoundly beautiful, encouraging, and convicting about this last Day image. It doesn’t look like a World Cup Championship celebration, or a confetti-in-the-air political rally, or even the biggest, loudest hymn sing ever.
As you describe the scene, inheritors (not “earners”) of your Kingdom will be astonished, humbled, and grateful. Shocked, that sacrificial love for neighbors, strangers, foreigners—even enemies, was actually experienced by you. We know we’re saved by grace alone through faith alone; but faith and grace are never alone. They always find ways to love you by loving others.
Indeed, you taught us to “love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward (not wage) will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked” (Luke 6:35). Help us Jesus… especially in these coming days and hours. Knowing you has nothing to do with winning and gloating, but everything to do with loving and serving.
Hands lifted to you in corporate worship are one thing; hands extended to you in the faces of widows and orphans, the vulnerable and ungrateful, the hungry and angry are quite another. May the “least of these” get the best of us… and our love for you. So Very Amen.
