“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:1-5)..
Happy New Year, everybody! Let us strive to walk in Jesus’ footsteps throughout the new year and beyond.
In addition, yours truly would like to take this opportunity to thank all my friends for supporting this blog. Your likes and comments mean a lot to me. Thank you, thank you. To God be the glory.
Some five hundred years before the arrival of Emmanuel, the prophet Isaiah prophesied that Emmanuel would come: “ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).
Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.
What are you most thankful for (today)?
It is another Thanksgiving Day, and as usual, I am excited. All across America people are visiting family and friends to celebrate the big day. There is going to be lots of eating and drinking and merrymaking.
But, amidst all that eating and drinking, I encourage you to pause awhile and think about how fortunate we all are to live in the USA. Despite of its problems, and there are many, it is good a time as any to be an American.
Naturally, It would not be Thanksgiving Day if I did not put a ‘thank you’ list together. There are so many things to be thankful for. The world would run out of paper and ink by the time I am through jotting down my blessings. Nevertheless, number one on my list is “spared life.”
I thank God for keeping me alive. Being alive with all my faculties intact means I have another chance to prepare for the Bridegroom. God has given me more than my fair share of chances to prepare for His appearing. Therefore, if He comes today and I am not ready; I have no one to blame but myself.
I thank God for my family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, my employer, and all those people whom I come in contact with on a daily basis. And last but not least, you, my friends in the blogosphere. You mean more to me than you will ever know. I pray the good God above will continue to bless and keep you.
English: An image showing Ovis aries in field with goats. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The parable of the sheep and the goats that Jesus told in Matthew 25:31-46 seems to convey a simple message. And why not. Jesus was and is known to make things simple. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that Jesus used this parable to clear up any ambiguity in an earlier point that He made: “Love your neighbor as yourself”.
As you read through the parable (the sheep and the goats), you will notice that as Christians and as a society in general, we are charge with the responsibility to care for the less fortunate. Further, according to the parable, every crying voice for help that we ignore will be held against us when we stand before the righteous Judge.
Matthew 25:31-46
New International Version (NIV)
The Sheep and the Goats
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, He will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation 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 needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit 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? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then He will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire 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, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“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.”
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