The Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)

But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of 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; 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?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal 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 themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” 

Matthew 25:34-46 (NASB)

Depart from me,
you who are under God's curse.
How horrible do the words sound?
Do they sting your ears?
We may have sung praises
and recited all the proper prayers,
but did we feed the hungry,
clothed the naked,
give shelter to the homeless?

We gather in our churches
and sterilize our faith
until we except the teachings
palatable to our taste.
We separate ourselves from our brothers
by dogmas
and traditions.
Do you think you have more right to God
than a heathen?

We give five dollars,
maybe ten or twenty
and curse our way
through the week following,
watching the addict,
the skeptic
and the lonely
fall by the roadside.

I am no stronger than you.
I fear rejection.
I fear the ruse
and detest the abuse.
If one word from my mouth
could heal a thousand wounds,
would I speak it?

Depart from me,
and my ears sting,
because I have opened my door
when convenience is at hand,
I have fed the hungry
when I have much to spare
and I have clothed the naked
with my discarded rags.

The goats stand to Your left.
Lord, give me the wisdom and strength
to move to Your right.



copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author