MATTHEW 25:44-46

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

TO PONDER

Never underestimate the power of one simple act of love! I don't know about you, but I am often guilty of thinking that I have to do something big in order to make a difference. After all, don't we love to hear the stories of those people who have done great things? They are the ones who are recognised and lauded as the best humanity has to offer.

Yet Jesus is suggesting that the things that matter are the everyday care and love that we show towards others. When we help to feed the hungry, when we greet and welcome strangers, when we offer charity and help for those in need, when we visit the sick or imprisoned. These things don't necessarily win us humanitarian awards or get us any recognition in this world, but God wants us as his people to continue his work of loving and providing for the needs of those he loves. He wants us to work with him in doing that so that just as we might see Jesus in the eyes of those we serve, they might also see Jesus at work through us.

PRAYER

Jesus, this life often makes us so busy and self centred that it can be difficult to recognise the needs of those around us. Help me not to be blind to the needs of others but rather be willing to see and meet those needs in whatever way I can. Amen