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.”
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, “Truly I tell
you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of
mine, you did for me.” Matthew
25:34-40
I’ve read
this any number of times and I’ve pretty much always gotten the same picture:
do nice things for people as if doing it for the
Lord, himself.
But I think
it might go a step further than that.
When my son
was on death’s doorstep, you visited, provided
food, sent cards and brought gifts.
You got on your knees.
Your
churches gathered just to pray for him.
And in so
doing, you blessed Bill and me beyond measure.
You couldn’t
have blessed us more wholly than in caring for our son.
We are full to overflowing because of what you did
for him.
So perhaps
the King’s point is that
we should do nice things for people because it
blesses God
and fills him to overflowing.
I see this
more clearly now.
Thank you
for expressing your love for us by meeting the need of our son.
(In case you haven’t seen, Will went
home this evening. He is still very tired and has some lingering effects from
the pneumonia and the sepsis. But all in all, he is doing very well. Lizzie has
been studying sepsis in her nursing class this week. She was amazed to learn
that only 30-40% of people treated for sepsis
survive. Isn’t it wonderful that God spared Will’s life!)
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