"Touch Lives Today"

"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 thitsty and give You a 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 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 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."

I couldn't help but to think and meditate on these words of Jesus found in Matthew 25:31-46 today. As I did it made me wonder and then to ask myself if I was doing enough? Do I see Jesus as I react and treat the needs of those around me?

As a foster parent I do have opportunities to give food and drink and clothes and even a home to strangers. Its pretty easy in one respect, they are little and easy to love but is that enough? Shouldn't we as 'sheep' following our Good Shepherd remember that we are those that He was saying, "Come, blessed of the Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world," because we did for Him by doing for the least of these. It seems as though He is saying that treating others with the same care that we would Him matters even if it is simply motivated by compassion.

Think about it! We all come across 'the least of these' opportunities to bless other as we live our lives. And, apparently, based on what Jesus had to say here, what we do with them matters because it helps to qualify us as sheep ... or ... goats!

Touch lives today and God Bless!!!