Matthew 25:31-46

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

 "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."

These words are haunting me a bit right now.  Something happened earlier today that I can't quite get over.  I had an opportunity to show Michaela (she and Eliana were in the car with me) what it can look like to minister to someone in physical need and I let it pass.  I was guided by fear instead of compassion, distrust instead of love.  And thinking about that passage makes me tremble.  I know that God is not vindictive, but He is just.  And sometimes I am so conflicted about my own role in His plan for justice.  Or even kindness.  When it says so plainly that we are to care for those who are hungry ("Can you help me get something to eat?"), or thirsty, or unclothed, and we know it, yet we turn away from those people, or that person...can we be so bold as to ask for forgiveness?  I know what the Bible says about forgiveness too.  I think that I can and ought to seek God's forgiveness.  I wish I could ask for hers as well.  I pray for wisdom about what to do in the future when I am confronted with a choice, when I am looking into the face of need, when Jesus asks me,"What will you do for me?"   May God help me to know the appropriate, compassionate, loving resonse to offer.  I pray that fear would be conquered, distrust would be overthrown, and that I might be able "to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with [my] God."