Friday June 02nd, 2023
« Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in their own time of need »
32 and the people of all the nations will be gathered before Him. Then He will divide them into two groups, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will put the righteous people at his right and the others at his left.
34 Then the King will say to the people on his right, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father! Come and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since the creation of the world.
35 I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes,
36 naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.’
37 The righteous will then answer him, ‘When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?
38 When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you in our homes, or naked and clothe you?
39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’
40 The King will reply, ‘I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these followers of mine, you did it for me!’
41 Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Away from me, you that are under God’s curse!
Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels!
42 I was hungry but you would not feed me, thirsty but you would not give me a drink;
43 I was a stranger but you would not welcome me in your homes, naked but you would not clothe me; I was sick and in prison but you would not take care of me.’
44 Then they will answer Him, ‘When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and we would not help you?’
45 The King will reply, ‘I tell you, whenever you refused to help one of these least important ones, you refused to help me.’
46 These, then, will be sent off to eternal punishment, but the righteous will go to eternal life.”
Understand:
Many Christians don’t realize the dangers inherent in ignoring the poor around them.
From today’s Bible reading, we see that the Lord cares for the less privileged so much that He literally feels their pain.
This means that every time you disregard a person in need you are ignoring God Himself.
Matthew 25:45-46NLT says:
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
From these verses we understand that neglecting the needy is a passageway to hell fire.
When people come to you in hunger, do you give them food or turn deaf ears to their pleas?
When someone is sick, do you visit to show love and pray with him or her or do you just go about your own business?
When you see someone who needs new clothes, do you scorn or abuse the person for looking haggard instead of giving out some of the clothes in your wardrobe that you haven’t worn in a long while?
If you are ignoring people’s needs around you, be careful because you just might be disregarding God Himself, and the result is eternity in hell.
Believe me honestly, if you make it a point of duty to always give to the poor, you will be blessed bountifully for it.
It is popularly said that givers never lack.
I believe this to be very true because Proverbs 19:17 ESV says:
« Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and He will repay them for their deed. »
No one who neglects the poor has a place in Heaven.
In Matthew 19:16-25, a rich young man went to see Jesus, and he told Him that he had kept all Jewish laws from his youth, but he still felt like he was lacking something. Jesus told him that if he wanted to be perfect, he should sell all that he had and give the proceeds to the poor. This was too hard for the rich man to do, so he went away in sorrow. Then Jesus turned to His disciples and told them it is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
In other words, if you are rich and you find anything too big or too valuable to let go of for the sake of the poor, then there is no place for you in the kingdom of heaven.
Many people judge this rich young man, but they would do exactly the same thing he did if they were in his shoes.
If I may ask, do you care enough for the needy that you can sell all that you have to meet their needs?
Difficult as this may sound, it is reflective of the kind of heart that has a place in heaven.
Application: Begin to set aside a portion of your regular income to help the needy from today.
Author: Bishop Enoch. A. Adeboye.
Edited by Naomie
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