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.’
Matthew 25:31-40
Questions for Reflection:
What do you think people find difficult in the fact that Jesus is the one who separates out the sheep and the goats and not us?
Why do you think that is difficult for people?
How can you "tend the field?" How could your Grow Group?
Prayer of the Week:
Lord Jesus, I come to You now to be restored in You, to be renewed in You and to receive all the grace and mercy I so desperately need this day. I honor You as my Lord and God and surrender every aspect of my life totally and completely to You. Thank You for loving me so very much and I now intentionally enter that love relationship with You as I pray.
Jesus, I admit that there are times I don’t “get” You. I don’t understand how You and the Father and the Spirit are working at this moment in my life and in my world. (Take a couple of moments and candidly admit frustrations with Jesus and situations where you find it difficult and frustrating to trust and obey Him.)
Even as I admit these frustrations I am, in some way, surrendering them to You. You are God and I am not. You see a much bigger picture than I do. I surrender to You – not in a sense cynical defeat but in life giving faith. Jesus, I believe in You. Help my unbelief.
Holy Spirit, I need Your counsel, comfort, strength and guidance. I ask You to fill me afresh with Your presence and life so that I might see the many little ways Your kingdom is breaking in to this broken world. I want to see and seize the opportunities You are giving me to share love and forgiveness, grace and kindness, truth and justice, sacrifice and service, joy and compassion, words and actions all done in Your name as small but vital parts of Your kingdom breaking into our broken world.
I thank You so much for calling me to be Your child, to be Your witness in this world and contend for Your kingdom even in small and seemingly insignificant ways. It is refreshing to know that little things done in Your name do matter and matter greatly. Thank You for being the kind of God where someone as insignificant as me can matter so very much to You. I love You,
Amen
