There is hope for everyone

From Matthew 25:34-46

34“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. 35For 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, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40“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.’
41“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. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I 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.’
44“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?’
45“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.’
46“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

It is so easy sometimes to forget our duty as Christians to help the world around us, to be an influence, to live as priests to the rest of the world. Sometimes we are just too stressed, or busy or we are having a really bad day to notice the gentleman on the corner panhandling again. He's there every day rain or shine asking for some change. It's a shame we think "somebody aught to do something about all the homeless in this town". If you think that then maybe you are being called by God to make a change to the life of someone who is homeless. Jesus listed only a couple of things but He could have added much more. We are called to step outside of our comfort zone because we have been saved, not because we want to impress God and "earn" our way into heaven. All that we have and all that we ever will have comes from Jesus Christ our Savior. He went to the cross to take our sins from us; He gave up His earthly life to defeat death. All that He asks us to do is to take up our cross (our assignment) and to make our part of the world a little better place then when we came into it.

I am sure that the people on Jesus' left were surprised to find out that they hadn't done enough to earn their way into Heaven. I'm sure that every week they gave their tithe and went to church. I'm sure from the outside they looked like they had it all together; They might even have been deacons or pastors or elders in their local temples. The problem is that they didn't put into action what they were preaching. We have all done that from time to time. It is a trick of the Devil's to lull us into a false sense of independence. The people on his right are no different then you or I. Sometimes when I walk down the road I will see a homeless person and I just hope that they don't ask me for money. At that point I am like the people on Jesus' left. It's not something that I am proud of but that's the truth of the matter.

When we look at these passages and think about what they mean to our lives we can become concerned that we "aren't doing the right things" to earn our way into Heaven. There is no action that is enough for us to earn our way into Heaven without faith in Jesus Christ. So what are we being asked to do here? We are being called to "go ye therefore and to teach all nations baptizing in the name of the father, son and holy spirit" by putting our faith into action. If we wait for some day to come for someone to do something noone will ever do anything. God has a plan for our lives, for all of us. God will let you know what you are to do for Him through the Holy Spirit urging of you.

If you are reading this and you are searching for answers I invite you to pick up a Bible and to reach out to God. Your father in Heaven knows that you are hurting and He wants you to tell Him. He want you to start a relationship with Him by being honest with Him. The next thing that you need to do is to ask someone at a church that you know about for help. By telling someone that you are hurting and that you have questions you are asking for someone to minister to you. You are not being a burden or putting anyone out. You are like the "least of these" that Jesus is talking about in the passages above. If you are someone who has a hard time opening up to people trust me it can be scary but in the end it will be worth it. I guarentee that what you are feeling will not last forever. God will pull you close, clean you up and will slowly build up your faith bit by bit. It can be a good kind of scary but it will change your life. If you are going through something and your faith has grown as a result please share it with us. It will help someone else's faith to grow more.

God bless,

Bruce