“For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was
thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you too 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.” Matthew 25:35, 36.
In
the afternoon, I was sitting outside this mart when suddenly this woman walked
up to my car. She looked like she was seeking help. I rolled my window down and
asked, “How can I help you?” She said, “Do you have any change? We ran out of
gas and we need gas money.”
I
didn’t ask more, I didn’t judge. I simply said, “If you go down half a mile
there is a gas station. Come, meet me there and I’ll fill up gas for you.” I
don’t know why I said that. I can be usually skeptic when it comes to things
like this, doubting and questioning the person’s story. But for some reason, I
was compelled to help this couple. Later I asked why she came to me. She said
she asked for help from all the people she can find in the parking lot but
everyone else had declined.
This
wasn’t the first time. A few weeks ago, after church, a stranger texted me and
told me he needed gas money. I called up and told him to meet me at a gas station.
He had found my number by searching for churches online. I have a feeling I
wasn’t the only pastor he had contacted.
I
am not writing these stories to brag about what I did. It simply reminded me of
Matthew 25 where the Son of Man separates the sheep from the goats. What was
the measurement of separating? Was it based on the how many verses you can
memorize? Was it based on how many Bible doctrines you can teach? Was it based
on how faithful you were in offerings? Was it based on how faithful you kept
the Sabbath?
No.
Surprisingly, it was defined by how much we helped other people. We need to
know the Bible, but we need to practice what the Bible teaches us. We need to
follow the examples of Jesus.
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