"The least of these"

Good Morning,

Matthew 25:34-46 (NIV)
"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. 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, 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.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Evidently, it's time we revisit this section of Scripture. I know that the Lord has led me to these verses many times in the past, and I think He'll probably lead me back to them many times in the future. I would suppose that His reason is that we haven't learned fully the lesson that is so apparent in these verses. Yes, I'm getting better at accepting and trying to do more for "the least of these brothers" but, am I doing enough? Do I care enough?

Those two questions are what, I believe, tantamount in what is being taught by Jesus as He spoke these words. How much to we care for "the least of these"? How much do we actually DO for "the least of these"? Unfortunately, as a whole, it seems that we don't really care very much, nor are we doing enough for those who are hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, and in prison. Quite a group of people there, isn't it?

Yes, we all have our own challenges that we must work through in our individual lives, I'll admit that. Of course, we have problems which seem to arise in our daily lives that have to be addressed and solved, that goes without saying. But, think for a moment about people who are in TRUE need. By that I mean those people who are genuinely thirst and/or hungry; those people who are "strangers in a strange land" (to quote a Robert Heinlein line); people who are in need of warm and decent clothing and without funds to get it; the sick; those in prison.

I guess the next thing here in this message would be for me to give you an answer as to exactly how you and I can be more effective in serving those people who are in need of some of the basics of life. Uh, oh! I don't have those answers...at least not for you. All I can do is to read these verses again, allow the Holy Spirit to speak to me as to what I'M supposed to do, and then go out and actually DO what He has told me. Now, as to what YOU are supposed to do? I have no idea. You see, that is between you and God. It has to do with you being obedient to the guidance and direction that the Holy Spirit will undoubtedly give to you. It will be different for each of us, of course, because each of us have dissimilar and distinct means with which to be obedient to the Lord in these matters. (Don't you just hate it when someone raises an issue and then doesn't give out some definitive answer to the problem???)

I do wish that there were some truly cut and dry answers and ways that every one of us could obey God's command in these areas of concerns. That would be so much easier, don't you think? Unfortunately, it isn't that simple.

The only thing that I can say which would be the same for every one of us is that we have to CARE more for "the least of these." We have to soften our hearts toward them. Then, when we do truly care, we will know more of what we are to do.

Love, peace, and blessings,

David