Little Things

 

In Matthew chapter 25, it is written:
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

He's talking to the sheep which represent believers here. And their response was basically, "What?! When did we do that?" Yes, I am reading into this a bit. However, they were truly surprised to hear this. Their response is written in verses 37 to 39.

37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’

His answer is found in verse 40:
40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

So, how did they forget all that? When they were reminded, I imagine they just said, 'Oh, that was nothing!' They were just living their lives as usual. These were just little things to them!

But the Lord God didn't forget. He doesn't forget anything. (And the people that were blessed didn't forget, either!)
In Hebrews chapter 6 verse 10, it is written:

"For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister."

So, what are you gonna do?

Well, you can start by encouraging people. How many times have you said (or heard) "good job!" Now that wasn't hard, was it? (Especially if what was done was really a good job!) It's just a little thing to encourage someone this way.

 Anything else? Well, I suggest you keep your 'spiritual ears' open. Now what does that mean? It has to do with discernment which is a result of sensitivity to the Spirit. And that is affected by keeping close to the Lord God - the closer the better. And that is done by continually being filled with the Spirit of God!

Is that confusing? Well, just be assured that the Lord God is for you as it says in Psalm 118 verse 7, and He will guide you through this whole process of growth in 'working and laboring in your love for others'. If you ask Him. So, ask Him.

And through all of this you can (and will!) rejoice in the Lord! Hallelujah!!

Larry Carroll