Tag: Series

What was your response when you saw a distressed and needy person? Or an aged person struggling to cross the road? Or a foreigner, a woman, a child being mistreated? Or an innocent person being falsely accused? Did your heart break? Did you feel an anguish in your heart? Did you do anything about it?

These are not questions I’m asking you. But, these may be the questions that God will ask you, as a believer, on the day of the judgement of the living and the dead.

You see, a just God desires His people to be like Him – full of justice and love.

Jesus said this when He was talking about how, on the day of judgement, God is going to separate the sheep from the goats. Wonder why He used the example of sheep and goats, because both of them have a shepherd or goatherd, right? Well, I read this somewhere and I’m requoting it – “The sheep follow their shepherd, the goatherd follows the goats”. The quote pretty much sums up what Jesus was trying to say. God’s sheep will follow God, yield to His voice and obey Him, but the goats rather go their own way and the goatherd goes behind them. Earlier, in many parts of the world, sheep and goats looked identical and it was hard to distinguish between them. Yet, the shepherd always knew his sheep.

Now, when Jesus spoke about separating his sheep from the goats, he talked about one measure through which he was distinguishing them. Jesus says in Matthew 25 : 40 – “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.’

Remember, both the sheep and goat are part of the flock – Yet, on the day of judgement, there will be a filtering of the sheep from the goat. The sheep will be those having God’s heart and doing what He would do – being just.

You see, a just God desires His people to be like Him – full of justice and love.

Yes! Your worship, your devotion to God, your bold proclamation of your faith is important, but along with it, what is more important to God is that you show justice and the love of God in everything you say or do.

In the same passage Jesus describes it like this – He says to the sheep in verses 25 – 26 – “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.”

In my previous blog, I talked about God being a ‘Just God’ (do read it, if you have not as yet) and today I’m taking you through how His heart is for you and me to be his arms and feet of that justice. He wants us to carry His heart of justice to the weak, the downtrodden, the helpless, the orphan, the widow, the broken, and the lonely.

If you call yourself a believer in Christ, preach His word, worship Him, talk about your faith in Him but don’t carry out his heart of justice in your daily living – you will be put onto the left side, separated as a goat and not His sheep.

Do you look down on your colleague who may be isn’t as culturally adaptive as you? Or mock a classmate who is always reserved and shy? Do you shift loyalties from one person to another just to please someone? Beloved, no one who does these things can please God in any way, even if they are serving in church or leading a flock or even saying they are believers in Christ. This is exactly what Jesus held against the Pharisees. In Luke 11 : 42, Jesus says “”Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.”

Yes! Your worship, your devotion to God, your bold proclamation of your faith is important, but along with it, what is more important to God is that you show justice and the love of God in everything you say or do.

In Micah 6:8, the prophet says, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

When we don’t act justly to defend the cause of someone victimised by injustice, no matter what the consequences, we are going against the will of God. And, God takes it very seriously. We have read about what happened to Sodom – God destroyed the city because of their wickedness. However, when God spelt out the sins of Sodom that He held against them through prophet Ezekiel, He says that they were arrogant, overfed, unconcerned and did not help the poor and needy (Ezekiel 16 : 49).

God not only detests us carrying out injustice, but He also dislikes us being ignorant and unconcerned about injustice. In fact, those who withheld justice to the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow were cursed according to God’s law (Deuteronomy 27:19).

Now, the question is how do we exercise justice in all we do and for every single person around us?

Jesus lays down a foundational principle for us to be ‘just’ in everything we do. He says in Matthew 7 : 14, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

Although this is difficult to practice, it is as simple as that. If you can constantly look at those around you and respond, converse and act with them by treating them the way you would like to be treated, you will be ‘just’ in all you do.

There are enough scriptures that point out to us to ‘seek justice’, ‘administer justice’, ‘continue to remember those in prison and those being mistreated’.

God not only detests us carrying out injustice, but He also dislikes us being ignorant and unconcerned about injustice.

The prophet says in Isaiah 1 : 17 – “Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”

Go out there beloved, there are many hurting, lots of them hungry and needy, hundreds homeless, thousands helpless. Become God’s hands and feet that reach out to the broken.

Truly, God has prepared His kingdom for those of you who seek justice for the weak, poor and needy.

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