Photo by Povlin
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Povlin2001&action=edit&redlink=1
Jesus
said, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He
will sit on His glorious throne…
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 something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me
something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was naked and you
clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited
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 take You in, or naked and clothe You? When did
we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’
And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for
one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’” Matthew 25:31-40
The
other day, I was reading these verses and then went to see what Bible commentators
had to say about them. I was disappointed to see a couple of them said
something like this:
“If
God will reward us for doing these small things, what will he give those who
did the harder things and those who preached the word.”
Hmm,
well I disagree with them. I think Jesus did mention the hard things. What is
easier, to preach or share your last meal? What is easier, to give out
pamphlets about Jesus or drive a distance to visit someone in jail? What is
easier, to be a pastor or look after people who are sick and even take them
into your house to care for them?
I
think, that as usual, God’s thoughts are high above our thoughts and his ways
above our ways. And I also think that this has been the problem with the
Christian religion through the ages.
If
the Christian churches had put suffering people first, the gospel would have
been preached first in actions, and then in preaching. If a person is loved and
helped by someone, with no other agenda than to help and love them, they would
then be open to the good news of Jesus, for that is what he did and the common
people loved him.
Yes,
the common people loved him, but the church leaders hated him. They were
jealous of his popularity and afraid of losing their power. I see church
leaders like this today.
When
Paul wrote about the church leaders who are around at the time of the end, this
is what he said about them:
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness, but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people." 2 Timothy 3:1-5
(You might wonder who I think I am by writing this stuff. Me too. I am nobody. I just write what my heart is full of.)
