Friday, December 20, 2013

Carol Bonifant
Small Group Ministry Leader, Vestry Chaplain

Listen to this Devotional.

Matthew 25:31-46

The Judgment of the Nations

31 “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. 32 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, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 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; 35 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, 36 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.’ 37 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? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 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,[a] you did it to me.’ 41 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; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 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.’ 44 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?’ 45 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.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Devotional

Have you planned a surprise special event? If you have you will understand fully all the efforts that went into preparing for this special day. It's taken months to set the date, plan the menu, hire the caterer and of course invite the guests. The details seem endless and you want it perfect.

Well such a surprise event is in the planning right now by all of heaven for us! That's right for you and me. Our Heavenly Father is planning a surprise party to beat all surprise parties. He is sending Jesus back to us on earth!! This is going to be one wild, crazy, wonderfully powerful party.

Only the Father knows the day, but all nations will be invited and there will be no doubt who is in charge. Jesus will greet us with "come you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you."

As we all gather ready to present our invitations, the angels at the door will look for a special notation that says; ‘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.’

What does that mean? Will my invitation have that on it? Will Jesus want me at His party?

Jesus wants everyone at His party, but there will be those who will not want Jesus at His own party and it will be those who will not enter in.

Additional Readings

Zech 8:9-17; Psalm 55; Rev. 6:1-17