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Monday, September 15, 2008

Matthew 25:31-40

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by 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 welcomed me, 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 thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (ESV)

by Angie Osborn

I think what Jesus was saying here was that when we truly give of ourselves to help others, it is glorifying to him. It is relatively painless for me to drop a bag of groceries off at the food pantry. Does that help someone? Yes! Is it showing compassion? Yes! The gift may even tighten my grocery budget some, but it is not truly opening my heart and life to the needy around me. It is much harder for me to invite the widowed man over for lunch or offer to baby-sit for the single mom so she can have a break from her 5 children. Yet, when I think of what Christ sacrificed for me, those acts seem so insignificant. How can you reach out to someone with the love of Christ?



Copyright Information

Daily Bible Meditations are taken from The Helping Hand,a Sabbath School student quarterly for youth and adults. Copyright © 2008, Seventh Day Baptist Board of Christian Education, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked "ESV" are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service .