Sheep? Goat? Our Choice

Good Morning,

Matthew 25:31-46 (NRSV)
‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the 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 people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.
'Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that 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 something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
'Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?”
'And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
'Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal 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 nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.”
'Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?”
'Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’

You know, I've been told at various times that I shouldn't include long sections of Scripture in the messages that I send along. Some have said that people just don't have the time to read "all those verses" when they receive an e-mail. I guess that they may be right sometimes, but I suggest to them...and to everyone...that there are times when we really DO need to read ALL of the verses in a particular section of Scripture in order to understand the meaning of those verses and to fully absorb what God is telling us through them. So, today I've included a fairly long section of Scripture because I think that the Holy Spirit wanted me to do it.

We all know these verses, I'm sure. And, for those who may not be totally familiar with them, it's really good that they be read and understood. Jesus is telling us here that we will be judged, rewarded, or punished according to our actions on this earth as we treated even "...to one of the least of these who are members of my family..." He's clear to those who were blessed to have been there with Him and, thus, clear to us who have the opportunity to be able to read what He said. There doesn't appear to be any ambivalence to what Jesus said...at least not to me, anyway.

He's telling us that we will be separated into the "sheep" and the "goats" as we are gathered in front of Him. Then, He tells us WHO are the sheep and WHO are the goats. He explains what we are to do in order to be on His right hand. He also says clearly what NOT to do in order to be among those on His left.

It's my thinking that we have a choice in this, don't you agree? I mean, even if we've not acted in such a way...up to this point in our lives...to be among the blessed on His right, and have even so far might be considered one of the "goats" on His left, well, we can change that, if we so choose to do so. Again, it's my thinking here that it might be, as the young folks say today, waaaaay better to be a sheep and on His right, than to be a goat and on His left! We can read exactly what Jesus said that we can choose between in these verses. He tells us so very clearly what the sheep will do, and He's also clear about what the goats will not do. We don't need to go into those details as Jesus has succinctly said it and I certainly can't say it any better. (That's one of the reasons we have ALL of the verses of this section of Scripture!)

Yes, as we've discussed in the past, life is filled with choices. Almost every moment of every day we can choose between one thing or another; we can be one way or another; we can do or not do some particular activity; and on...and on...and on. So, do I choose to be a sheep? Or, do I choose to be a goat? I know what I must do in order to be on the right hand. All I've got to do is to, well, to say it as Nike does...JUST DO IT!

It's my choice. And...it's yours, as well.

Love, peace, and blessings,

David