Yesterday I heard a friend of mine, appealing to others in a group to donate towards those who needed food, clothing and shelter in Manipur. Even as I heard his appeal, and saw his sincere efforts to help, I realised that many of our hearts had turned to stone when it came to giving to people in distress.
And yet in our afterlife, we hope God will take us to eternity to live with him. To those stone hearted people will I quote directly from Christ’s words in Matthew 25, vs 23 of the Holy Scriptures: ‘And He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on His left.
Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 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 was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to 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? And when did we see You a stranger and invite You in? Or naked and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “And answering, the King will say to them, ‘Amen, I tell you, whatever you did to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’Then He will also say to those on the left, ‘Go away from Me, you cursed ones, into the everlasting fire which has been 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; naked and you did not clothe Me; sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
“Then they too will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not care for You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Amen, I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’ These shall go off to everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life.
” Well, it’s quite clear isn’t it? Hold on to your money, and as the everlasting fires burn, you may be still holding onto that useless wallet, but loosen your purse’s strings now, and you may hear those blessed words, “Welcome my child! ‘whatever you did to the least of these, you did for Me!’What would you like to hear? ‘Go away!’ or ‘Welcome’?
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