Come, Blessed of My Father

July 2

“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took 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, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?

“And the King will answer and say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me," Matthew 25:34-40.

The heart of love and mercy of our great God and King extends to all mankind. Our Jesus came to “seek and save the lost,” Luke 19:10. He didn’t say He came to seek and save lost westerners or lost middle easterners or lost Asians or lost Africans.

No. Jesus came “that the whole world might be saved,” John 3:17.

This concept is difficult for fallen man to wrap his mind around. Man, who draws lines of demarcation around people based upon nationality or skin color or intellectual ability or religious persuasion cannot fathom that God loves all men equally and sent the only holy Man who ever lived to be the Savior of all mankind.

As Luke 19:10 clearly states, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.” These few simple words make it quite clear that man is absent from his rightful place. Our eternal Father did not create us to live apart from Him in our lifetimes or to be separated from Him eternally by the sin that intrudes itself into the relationship He desires to have with the finest of His creation.

If the Holy One who inhabits eternity loves us so much that a Savior came from glory, according to the beautiful words penned by Eugene M. Bartlett in the wonderful old hymn, “Victory in Jesus,” shouldn’t we be receptive to His great and unspeakable gift of salvation? (see II Corinthians 9:15). Then, shouldn’t we focus the remainder of our lives, whether long or short, upon the sharing of the Gospel with everyone who will hear?

Shouldn’t we strive to please the great King who is touched by the Christ-like qualities described in Matthew 25:34-40? Shouldn’t we reach out to friend and stranger, rich and poor, kind and unkind, merciful and unmerciful, good and godless, loving and hate-filled—to all within our sphere of influence—with the life-transforming words, JESUS LOVES YOU! JESUS SAVES!