Faithful on Fridays Blog

Matt. 25:31-46

There is a day marked on the Father’s calendar when He’ll send the Son of Man back to earth to set up His eternal kingdom. We call that the Second Coming as heaven and earth are connected once again. In this glorious, splendiferous appearing, Jesus, accompanied by angels, takes His seat on this throne as the final King.

It’s a place we can visualize where Judgment Day is initiated, but more importantly, we are cautioned by Christ to be prepared and He told seven stories to help us in that effort:

• The Two Sons taught us the value of repentance leading to obedience (Matt. 21:28-32).

• The Wicked Tenants encouraged us to lead fruit-filled lives (Matt. 21:33-36).

• The Wedding Feast was the call of the chosen to righteousness (Matt. 22L1-14).

• The Fig Tree cautioned us to be watchful for this special day (Matt. 24:32-26).

• The Ten Bridesmaids showed us how crucial it is to be filled with the Spirit every day (Matt. 25:1-13).

• The Talents warned us to use our spiritual gifts to help others (Matt. 25:1-13).

Quite a tee-up to His final teaching on the separation of believers and unbelievers with His beautiful image of the Good Shepherd. With all the nations present, both dead and alive, those who’ve repented and trusted Him for salvation will recognize His voice and be positioned on the ‘right side’; they are the sheep. How fitting since it was a lamb who was chosen from all other animals to be the foreshadow of the Messiah who is the Lamb of God. We follow the Lamb into the Father’s blessing of inheritance in the final kingdom.

Unbelievers, those who refuse Him, are positioned on the left (as goats) and declared cursed making their departure to a place of eternal punishment. Interestingly, goats are pictured as symbols of devilish idols throughout history.

How does the King make His final decision? He clearly used the storyline of serving others in His Name. It wasn’t an exhaustive list, but great examples for us to follow: feed the hungry, welcome outsiders with hospitality, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and encourage the imprisoned with comfort and love. The disciples were like us, confused if this was literal or figurative, but Jesus qualified it for them: when you serve or minister to people in My Name it’s as if you did it directly to Me. That’s how serious He is about caring for the poor and needy.

Eternity literally awaits everyone from the beginning of time until the moment He appears again; the question is where is your destination and how do you know it? Jesus wants not only your words of faith, but your actions that prove you believe what you say you believe. Your life should be full of spiritual fruit, righteous living, watching and anticipating, daily filled with Him allowing the Spirit to move through you with the gifts He’s imparted to help others. 

These are the days to be on the ‘right side’.