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Ripple Effect Reading | Week 2 | Day 4

Prayer

Take a moment to be silent and still. In order to be fully present in body and mind, take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Do this three times. Ask God to give you His wisdom today.

Bible Reading: Matthew 25:31-46

Read these verses three times slowly.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 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, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters 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, ‘Truly I tell you, 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.”

Reflection & Questions

Today’s verses are extremely clarifying. When the end comes, there will only be two types of people. The sheep and the goats. The sheep are the ones who served Jesus. The goats didn’t. The sheep will receive eternal life with Jesus. The goats won’t. It’s as simple as that. Jesus leaves it to us to think about who we are. Are we sheep or goats? Who do we want to be? Will we change?

Now some might wonder, does this mean we are earning eternal life? What happened to the fact that we receive salvation by grace and not by works? That fact does not change at all. The reality though is that those who have received salvation by grace will be changed. They will have the Holy Spirit in them and they will seek to serve others. They will be a conduit of God’s love. Those who do not truly receive God’s grace, won’t change.

Don’t miss in these verses who the sheep serve. It is the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the sick, and the prisoners. These are all people who can’t repay. They are the truly needy. The heart of the sheep will be for the underprivileged, the undeserving. They’re hearts are that way because they know that’s who they are, too. They didn’t deserve God’s grace. They weren’t worthy. Yet God stooped to serve them. So they gladly and with full hearts serve the underprivileged and undeserving. And without realizing it, Jesus tells the sheep that when you served them, you served me.

1. What challenges you today in Jesus’ words?
2. Do you serve the unworthy and undeserving? Why or why not?

Prayer

Talk to God in response to today’s reading.

Worship Song

You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:

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Questions?